Bankfin no longer exists. It was Absa’s vehicle finance business, and the brand was folded into Absa in July 2003 to become Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance. If you are looking for Bankfin, you are looking for Absa.
The numbers that replaced it
- Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance: 0860 669 669
- Absa general enquiries: 08600 08600
- Credit protection and extended cover on a vehicle agreement: 0860 669 669
- Behind on payments? Absa labels that desk Manage my debt: 0860 000 786
Absa Bank Limited is registration 1986/004794/06, an authorised financial services provider and a registered credit provider under NCRCP7.
Do not use the old web address
This is worth knowing before you click. bankfin.co.za now redirects to a vehicle finance brokerage trading as Easy Car Loans — a separate company whose site does not mention Bankfin at all. Landing there is not evidence that Bankfin still trades, and anything you submit on that site goes to that broker, not to your bank. Go to absa.co.za directly.
An old Bankfin agreement is still an Absa agreement
If you signed with Bankfin before 2003 and the account somehow still runs, or you are tracing an old settlement, paid-up letter or a lingering credit-bureau listing, that record sits with Absa. Quote the original Bankfin agreement number as well as any Absa reference — the older the account, the more likely it is that the original number is what will find it.
Getting a paid-up letter or a settlement figure
- You are entitled to a settlement figure on request, and to a statement of the account.
- When a vehicle agreement is settled, ask for the paid-up letter and the release of the title-holder interest in writing.
- Then check that the NaTIS record no longer shows the bank as title holder. This is the step people skip, and it surfaces years later when they try to sell the car.
- A settled account should reflect as such at the credit bureaux within a reasonable period. If it does not, dispute it with the bureau free of charge.
Beware of anyone still trading on the name
A defunct brand is useful to a fraudster precisely because people remember it and cannot check it. If something claiming to be Bankfin offers you vehicle finance, asks for an upfront fee, or asks you to pay a settlement into an account given over the phone, it is not a bank. No registered credit provider takes a payment from you in order to advance a loan. Phone 08600 08600 yourself and confirm.
If something is wrong
- Complain to Absa first and keep the reference.
- A banking complaint goes to the National Financial Ombud Scheme; a credit agreement or credit-record complaint goes to the National Credit Regulator. Both are free.
- A dispute about the vehicle itself rather than the finance is a matter for the dealer, and then the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa.