Zero Debt

What Zero Debt does

Zero Debt (Pty) Ltd is a South African debt counselling firm founded in 2009 by Chris Craven and headquartered in Bellville, Cape Town, with an additional office in Bryanston, Johannesburg. The company is registered with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and helps over-indebted South African consumers restructure and repay their debts through a legal process under the National Credit Act, offering three core services: Debt Review (court-approved restructuring with legal protection from creditor action and repossession), Debt Counselling (assessment and creditor negotiation), and Debt Consolidation (combining multiple debts into a single reduced-interest monthly payment).

The company's underlying technology is light: there is no proprietary platform, and services are delivered by approximately 30+ named NCR-registered debt consultants and support staff across finance, review, queries, proposals, and admin departments. Supporting digital assets include a set of free online calculators (debt calculator, budget planner, debt-to-income ratio, debt snowball), a newly launched free debt review calculator that uses historical case data to project savings, and an October 2025 website rebuild, all of which function as lead generation and education tools rather than core service infrastructure.

Zero Debt's revenue model is built on NCR-regulated professional services fees and legal fees, both incorporated into the client's restructured monthly repayment plan with no upfront costs to the consumer. Customer acquisition is driven by inside sales through a national toll-free line, website callback requests, WhatsApp, organic content marketing (blog and social media), free online tools, and a referral program offering up to R2,000 per successful referral. The customer base consists entirely of individual South African consumers struggling with multiple debts, high interest rates, and creditor harassment, with clients typically enrolled in 36-60 month repayment programs. The company is founder/privately owned with no external funding rounds disclosed.

Name

Zero Debt

Legal name

Zero Debt (Pty) Ltd

Website

https://zerodebt.co.za

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zero Debt is an NCR-registered South African debt counselling firm founded in 2009 that helps over-indebted consumers restructure debts into a single affordable monthly payment under the National Credit Act. It serves individual clients nationwide through offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Debt Counselling Services

NAICS

Consumer Lending (522291)

SIC

Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro primary industry

Credit Counseling & Debt Management Plans (DMP) (FSAKAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Multi-Loan / Multi-Creditor Consolidation Loans (FSAKAIAD)

Keywords

• Debt counselling services
• Debt review services
• Debt consolidation
• Debt restructuring
• Financial advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Cape Town

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Debt Counselling Fees: Zero Debt charges debt counselling fees that are regulated by the National Credit Regulator (NCR). These fees are incorporated into the client's restructured monthly debt repayment plan, meaning clients do not pay upfront costs. The fees are consistent across all NCR-registered debt review companies.
2. Legal Fees: Legal fees for obtaining court orders to make repayment plans legally binding are charged based on the type of debt and monthly repayment amount. These fees are also included in the reduced monthly payment, with no additional upfront fees required.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Zero Debt is an NCR-registered debt counselling company that helps over-indebted South African consumers restructure their debts under the National Credit Act. Its core offerings are debt review (legal debt restructuring with court-approved repayment plans and protection from creditor action), debt counselling (assessment and creditor negotiation to reduce interest rates and consolidate payments), and debt consolidation (combining multiple credit accounts into a single affordable monthly payment). All fees are regulated by the National Credit Regulator and incorporated into the client's restructured monthly repayment.

Product overview

Zero Debt is a South African debt counselling company offering a unified service platform for debt relief. The core offering consists of three main services: Debt Review (legal protection and debt restructuring under the National Credit Act), Debt Counselling (assessment and creditor negotiation), and Debt Consolidation (combining multiple debts into one payment). Supporting these are digital tools including a Debt Calculator, Budget Calculator, Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator, and Debt Snowball Calculator. A Referral Program allows clients to earn commissions. All services are delivered through qualified NCR-registered debt-free advisors with locations in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Debt Review A legal debt relief process under the National Credit Act that helps over-indebted South African consumers restructure and repay debts through a single affordable monthly payment, while protecting assets from repossession.
• Debt Counselling Assessment of the client's financial situation by a registered debt counsellor who negotiates with creditors to create a single affordable repayment plan with potentially reduced interest rates.
• Debt Consolidation Process of consolidating all debts owed to multiple credit providers into a single debt repayment at reduced interest rates, requiring one monthly payment instead of multiple.
• Debt Calculator Free online tool that estimates potential savings from debt restructuring based on debt type categories including home loans, vehicle finance, credit cards, and other debts.
• Budget Calculator Interactive tool that allows users to enter income and expenses across categories including giving, savings, food, utilities, housing, transportation, insurance, debt, and retirement to see national averages and identify areas for improvement.
• Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator Tool that calculates the ratio of debt to income by dividing total debt by gross monthly income, used to assess lending risk and financial health.
• Debt Snowball Calculator Debt-free date calculator that helps users determine when they will be debt-free by inputting debt types, interest rates, balances, and monthly payments.
• Referral Program Commission program where users can refer others to Zero Debt's debt counselling program and earn up to R2,000 for each successful referral, with no limit on referrals.

Quantifiable outcome

• Interest rates can be reduced by up to 100% on unsecured debts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• DebtBusters: One of South Africa's largest dedicated NCR-registered debt counselling companies, providing debt review, consolidation, and creditor negotiation to over-indebted consumers. Directly comparable to Zero Debt in offering, customer base, regulatory framework, and consultative go-to-market.
• Debt Rescue: A South African debt counselling firm providing debt review, consolidation, and creditor negotiation services under the National Credit Act. Offers the same NCR-regulated service suite as Zero Debt to over-indebted consumers with a similar consultative, fee-regulated model.
• DebtFix: South African debt counselling service provider offering NCR-registered debt review and consolidation. Targets the same over-indebted consumer persona with similar legal restructuring and creditor negotiation services under the National Credit Act.
• MyBudget: South African financial counselling and budget management firm helping consumers with budgeting, debt repayment plans, and creditor engagement. Overlaps with Zero Debt's debt counselling and consolidation offerings across an overlapping over-indebted consumer persona in the local market.

Broad incumbents

• Sanlam: A large South African financial services group providing insurance, investments, and credit solutions including debt-adjacent products to retail consumers. Broad incumbent with an overlapping consumer persona and broader portfolio of financial wellness and credit offerings.
• Old Mutual: A major South African financial services group offering insurance, investments, lending, and financial wellness services. Relevant to Zero Debt as a broad incumbent in consumer financial services, including debt-related and financial advisory offerings to the same mass-market persona.
• Capitec Bank: A major South African retail bank serving mass-market consumers with transactional banking, credit, and personal loan products. Adjacent to Zero Debt's debt consolidation focus in that Capitec originates credit to the same over-indebted persona that Zero Debt later services through formal debt review under the National Credit Act.
• African Bank: A South African retail bank offering personal loans, credit, and debt consolidation products to mass-market consumers. Adjacent to Zero Debt's debt consolidation focus, though African Bank originates credit through direct lending rather than NCR-registered counselling and operates with a much larger balance sheet.
• Bayport Financial Services: South African financial services provider offering personal loans, credit, and related consumer credit products targeted at salary-earners. Operates in the consumer credit space where Zero Debt's debt counselling services are positioned — a complementary rather than directly competitive participant in the broader consumer financial services stack.
• DirectAxis: A South African personal loans and credit provider offering consumer lending products across various retail segments. Operates in the broader consumer credit space where Zero Debt's debt counselling and restructuring services are positioned, though DirectAxis originates credit rather than restructures it.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/100063754553131
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zero-debt
• Instagraminstagram.com/zerodebtza/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@zerodebt
• Xx.com/ZerodebtZA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Zero Debt