Black Friday on a store card: when the interest eats the discount
A R6 000 purchase paid off over 12 months on a store card at the 21.25% legal ceiling costs R713 in interest - R1 541 with the maximum monthly fee.
In 30 seconds
- The most a store card may charge is 21.25% a year - the repo rate of 7.25% plus 14 points.
- R6 000 over 12 months costs R713 in interest and up to R828 more if the card charges the maximum R69 monthly fee.
- A 20% "Black Friday" discount on a R7 500 item saves R1 500 - 12 months on the card hands R1 541 of it back.
The discount is real. So is the interest.
Black Friday prices are often genuine. The trap is not the price tag, it is how you pay for it.
If the cash is in your account, the discount is the discount. If the purchase goes onto a store card or credit facility and you repay over many months, the interest and fees are subtracted from what you saved.
What the law lets a store card charge
Under the National Credit Regulations, a credit facility (credit card, store card, overdraft) may charge at most the repo rate plus 14 percentage points a year. With the repo rate at 7.25% since 25 September 2026, that is 21.25% a year. The same regulations allow a monthly service fee of up to R69 including VAT.
Unverified: the cap and fee are taken from National Credit Regulations reg 42 as published by a legal-text site, and the repo rate from news reports of the SARB decision. We could not load the National Credit Regulator or SARB pages to confirm. A card may charge less than the maximum, so check your own agreement.
R6 000 on a store card, repaid three ways
Assume a R6 000 basket, the 21.25% ceiling, and equal monthly repayments. The fee column assumes the maximum R69 a month.
| Repaid over | Monthly payment | Interest | Interest + max fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | R2 071 | R214 | R421 |
| 6 months | R1 063 | R377 | R791 |
| 12 months | R559 | R713 | R1 541 |
| 24 months | R309 | R1 417 | R3 073 |
Now set that against the discount. A R7 500 item at 20% off costs R6 000 and "saves" R1 500. Spread over 12 months at the ceiling, the interest and maximum fees come to R1 541 - more than the whole saving.
A five-minute test before you swipe
- Ask when it is paid off. If the answer is "next month's salary", the card is a convenience. If it is "over a year", it is a loan.
- Add the interest to the price. Compare the total with the full-price cash cost.
- Check the fee. Monthly account fees come on top of interest.
- Look at your other debts. A purchase at 21% sitting beside a debt you are already paying down slows both.
If you are carrying a balance already, the payoff order matters. Whether to attack the highest-interest balance first is a cash-flow question you can test with your own numbers.
How MaxWealth helps
The debt payoff tool takes the balances, interest rates and monthly amounts you actually have and shows how long each debt lasts and how much interest it costs, so you can see where a new purchase would land before you make it.
Sources
- Credit facility interest ceiling (repo + 14 points) and monthly fee limit: National Credit Regulations, regulation 42, as amended by GN 1080, Government Gazette 39379 of 6 November 2015; regulator: National Credit Regulator (page not confirmed - see note above).
- Repo rate 7.25% from 25 September 2026: news reports of the SARB MPC decision; primary source SARB - Current market rates.
- Repayment table: our own calculation, standard monthly-instalment formula at 21.25% a year on R6 000 plus R69 a month.
Education, not financial advice. This post explains how the rules and the arithmetic work. It does not recommend any financial product, and your own situation may differ - speak to a registered financial adviser or tax practitioner before you act. Figures were checked against the linked sources on the date above.