Fundi

About Fundi

Fundi is a South African education finance and fund management company. It was previously known as Eduload and began operating in 1996. Since then, it says it has granted well over 800,000 study loans, worth more than R4.5 billion. Its head office is in Weltevredenpark, Johannesburg.

The company is not a single-product business. It offers student loans to individuals, and it also manages bursary and training funds for other organisations. For that reason, the name Fundi can mean two quite different things to a student, and you should know which one applies to you.

How Fundi supports students

The first product is the study loan. A loan can help pay for course fees, textbooks, registration costs and technology such as laptops and tablets. Fundi also runs a route for government employees who want to study, which uses their PERSAL details. A loan must be paid back with interest, so it is a form of credit, not a free grant.

The second product is fund administration. Companies, government departments and donors often hire Fundi to run their bursary programmes. Fundi then handles tasks such as paying funds in a controlled way and tracking how students use them. It launched one of the country's first smart-card solutions for this purpose in 2000, called the FundiCard. The company reports that it has administered funds for more than 200,000 students.

When a bursary is run through Fundi, the money comes from the sponsor. The student does not repay it, although the sponsor may set conditions such as pass marks or work-back terms. Fundi is the administrator, not the funder.

What to know before applying

Start by reading the offer in front of you. If you are asked to sign a loan agreement, you are borrowing money. If you are placed on a sponsor's bursary, check the sponsor's own rules for marks, fields of study and service obligations.

Some universities list Fundi on their financial aid pages and ask students to apply before registration closes. Ask early, so that a delay does not leave you unable to register. However, requirements differ between institutions and loan types, so check the official site or ask your university's financial aid office. Typical applications ask for proof of registration, identity documents and income details, but these requirements are not fixed.

Finally, compare costs before borrowing. Look at the interest rate, monthly repayments and what happens if you stop studying. A bursary through a sponsor is usually the cheaper option, so apply for those first and treat a loan as a back-up.