Research, education, standards and public registers for South Africa’s private-lending market.
Private Lending Associationof South Africa
Start with the guide

Verified Practitioner

Apply for verification

The only route onto the Verified Practitioner Register. You apply, you are assessed against published criteria for a stated role and scope, and a record is published if the assessment is approved.

Maintained by the Association’s editorsLast updated 18 September 2026

This is the individual route

Verified Practitioner assesses a person — what you do, and what you are competent to do. An organisation is assessed on different things entirely and applies here instead: Verified Organisation assessment.

Neither is a listing, which is free, records identity and stated role, and involves no assessment.

Before you start

An application is not a listing and confers no status. Nobody appears on the register because they work somewhere, because their firm is a member or a partner, or because they are in somebody else’s directory. The Association does not import lists.

An assessment fee, then annual surveillance. The fee pays for the assessment and the surveillance regardless of outcome.

01 — The processThe five steps, and who does each

  1. You apply. This form. You get a reference on screen and an acknowledgement by email.
  2. You are invoiced, and the fee is paid before the work starts. That order is deliberate: the fee buys the work, so it cannot be contingent on the answer. It is not refunded if the assessment fails.
  3. The Association checks what you have told it. Identity, the registrations you claim, the organisations you say you are associated with, your working history, and anything adverse you declared — against public records and, where relevant, by asking the organisations you named.
  4. You sit the conduct assessment. A short online assessment on the code of conduct — situations you would actually meet, and what the code requires you to do about them. It is open book. The point is knowing where to look and applying it, not memorising clauses.
  5. A decision is taken and published — what was checked, against what evidence, what does not apply to your role, what remains open, and the review date. A refusal tells you why and what would change the answer.

The Independent Reviewer does not carry out the assessment. The Reviewer decides applications from connected parties, hears an appeal against any decision, and audits a sample of decisions each year.

02 — What happens nextFrom application to record

  1. You apply below. The application reaches the Association and nobody else.
  2. You are acknowledged within three business days and told what evidence is required and what the fee is.
  3. The baseline checks and the applicable role modules are carried out against the evidence and the public record.
  4. The decision is written down with reasons and confirmed by the Independent Reviewer before anything is published.
  5. If approved, a record is published with the role, the scope, the date granted, the review date and what was not assessed.

A refused application is not published. The fee is not refunded on a refusal, because the assessment was performed either way — that is what keeps the fee from being a purchase of the outcome. See the methodology.

Which roles should the assessment cover?

Verification covers the role and scope stated on the record and nothing wider. Choose the roles you actually perform.

Which sectors do you work in? (optional)
Your background

Verification is a statement that somebody checked. These are the things that get checked.

What you undertake
  1. The information given is accurate and complete.
  2. Anything adverse in the last five years is declared. Declaring it does not by itself prevent verification; concealing it is a breach.
  3. The assessment fee is payable before the work begins and pays for the assessment whatever the outcome.
  4. Verification, if granted, covers only the role and scope stated on the record.
  5. The status carries a review date and annual surveillance, and does not roll forward on its own.
  6. Material changes affecting the assessment will be reported to the Association.
  7. The status will never be described as approval, a licence, or authorisation to give financial advice.

An application is not a listing and confers no status. See the verification methodology for the criteria and dues and fees for what an assessment costs.