Start Here: Private Lending Explained, Step by Step

Start here

Six steps, in order, in plain English. No jargon you have not been given, and nothing you have to look up somewhere else first.

Maintained by the Association’s editorsLast updated 18 September 2026

Before you begin

Private lending is not complicated, but it is badly explained. Most people meet it for the first time in a pitch, which is the worst possible place to learn it — because the person explaining it has an interest in the answer.

This path takes about 64 minutes end to end. You can stop after any step; each one is useful on its own. By the end you will not be an expert, and you do not need to be. You will be able to ask the questions that separate a sound arrangement from an unsound one, which is the part that protects you.

The path

01What is private lending, actually?What private lending isTell the difference between lending money and investing it, and say where your return comes from.8 min 02What would I actually be holding?What you would holdWork out, from any arrangement put in front of you, whether you hold a loan, a note, a fund interest or something else — and therefore who owes you.9 min 03Who does what, and where does my money go?How the money movesFollow the capital from you to the borrower and back, and name who is responsible at each step.10 min 04What goes wrong, and how would I spot it early?What goes wrongRecognise the warning signs that precede most avoidable losses, and know which questions get evasive answers.12 min 05If the borrower stops paying, what protects me?What stands behind the loanTell real security from the word “secured”, and say in whose favour it stands in your arrangement.11 min 06If I decide to go ahead, what does that involve?How to take partChoose a route in, decide whether to lend personally or through an entity, and work through the checklist before any money moves.14 min

Six stops, about 64 minutes in total. You can stop at any point — each one is useful on its own.

01 — AfterwardsWhen you have finished

The last step before any money moves is checking who you are dealing with. The organisation register and the Verified Practitioner Register are free to search, and every entry says where it came from and what has not been checked.

02 — If you want to go deeperBeyond the path

The path is deliberately short. Behind it sits a full reference library, and none of it is required reading:

The market map — the whole South African private-lending market, its channels, its participants and the regulators involved.
The glossary — every term the sector uses, defined plainly.
Standards and recognition — what the Association expects of organisations and practitioners, and how that is assessed.
Against a fixed deposit and local versus offshore — comparisons, once you know what you are comparing.

6 steps · everything on this site is free to read, and none of it requires an account, an email address or a form.