Qualification

Name of Qualification : National Certificate in Banking - Business Banking

Level of Qualification : SAQA NQF Level 5*

Number of Credits : 131

Seta Accreditation : Accredited by BankSeta

Duration : 12 months

*Although this qualification is registered as Level 5 on SAQA, we are awaiting the accreditation of an Occupational programme through the QCTO called "The Business Banker". Once this has been accredited, we will convert this programme to QCTO Level 6. Students who have completed the SAQA Qualification will be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) to acquire the Level 6 certification.

This Qualification (or Learnership) falls under the umbrella of SAQA Qualification ID No 20186 (Formerly 61589) : National Certificate in Banking.

Having completed all five modules as listed below, learners will achieve the qualification “National Certificate in Banking : Business Banking”

This qualification will cover Unit Standards registered on the National Qualifications Framework as follows :

Qualification Title :  Determine the banking related financial needs of a business

NQF Level : 5

Credits : 20    

Qual ID : 7345 

US  Rating : Fundamental

Qualification Title :  Provide Sales related services within the Banking Sector

NQF Level : 5

Credits : 15    

Qual ID : 7356 

US  Rating : Fundamental

Qualification Title :  Assess the viability of a business banking opportunity

NQF Level : 5

Credits : 30    

Qual ID : 7346 

US  Rating : Core

Qualification Title :  Prepare a banking related business credit proposal for the relevant authority

NQF Level : 5

Credits : 16    

Qual ID : 7355 

US  Rating : Core

Qualification Title :  Assess and finalise the credit application for a   corporate, club, association or trust in a banking environment

NQF Level : 5

Credits : 50    

Qual ID : 7343 

US  Rating : Elective

Total   Credits : 131

The Modules which make up the qualification are aligned to the CredAssist methodology so that students who complete the course will have excellent insight to the Reports created by CredAssist.

Three of the Modules are directly related to the analysis of financial information, while the other two Modules relate to Relationship Management  and the legalities around bank security documentation.

The FIVE Modules which make up the Qualification are :

This Module has been carefully designed to focus on elements of accounting which apply specifically to bank credit. While a number of the learners may have studied accounting at University, these courses tend to be totally theoretical. In this programme, accounting principles are examined with specific regard to understanding the financial status of the business client. There is a reason why students have a serious problem in understanding accounting. It is because they are taught HOW to do things instead of WHY it should be done. As a result, financial statements are analysed in a mechanical fashion with very little value being added to the information provided by the customer. In many cases, credit managers know exactly WHERE to look for information, but they do not always know WHAT they are looking for. For example, in business, the past is not a good indication of the future, and therefore financial statements need to be examined in a way that focuses on the future, even though they are historical documents. This entails looking at the numbers with a totally different mindset! It requires one to consider qualitative and quantitative information and understand how to use historical trends to determine future performance. This cannot be done without a strong grasp of the principles discussed on this module.  

 Having a solid understanding of collateral and under what circumstances banks take collateral from clients is essential to all bankers working in a credit environment, especially those working directly with clients (Business Bankers and Relationship Managers). This Module will deal with the LEGAL ISSUES relating to bank security, and thus combines an academic understanding with a practical application. However, it is not essential that all learners have a background to law, as the necessary academic references will be explained. 

 The objective of this Module is to assist learners who have already gained a little experience in credit, to fully understand the financial risks related to the granting of credit to business entities. A marked difference in the quality of proposals, the relationship between credit and branch managers, bad debts, and customer relations should become apparent immediately after the programme. Please note that this programme is like no other business risk course offered in South Africa at present in that highly experienced facilitators focus on the job as opposed to pure theory. Financial Statements will be analysed in a practical way to ensure retention of skills in the future. Terminology will be explained in relation to bank credit rather than a basic understanding of what the terms mean. For example, we examine reserves not in terms of mere terminology, but how distributable and non-distributable reserves should be treated when granting credit. Shareholders loan accounts will be examined in accordance with the risks they place on a banker and the need to eliminate those risks through cession or subordination. The objective of this programme is, therefore, to take the basic understanding of credit analysis and take it to a much higher level, looking a best practice in terms of analysing gaps and trends in the ratios. Delegates will also be exposed to the concept of sustainable growth in relation to assessing the future survival of the business, as well as an in depth understanding of cash flows. Focussing on key risks in a business when doing a financial and non-financial analysis is critical, and this programme will assist delegates in assessing risk in a far more focussed manner, relating everything to the core objectives of the business, being sustainable growth and survival. Delegates will learn to ignore numbers with regard to ratios, as this can be extremely misguiding, and rather concentrate on the trends in and gaps of ratios when doing their analysis.   

Most Business Bankers and risk managers have never run a business. Consequently, they never have had the opportunity to understand a business from the owner’s point of view. For example, it is often easy to sit in the office assessing a customer’s business and deduce from the financial statements that the debtors days need to be shortened or the creditors days lengthened. They are not aware of what difficulties businessmen experience in trying to achieve these goals. Working in the bank, it is often difficult to be empathetic to the day-to-day problems experienced by businesspeople. Having a better understanding of these problems will not only provide a better perspective to the credit risks, but will also improve the relationship between the bank manager and the client. The objective of this Module is to expose the business bankers to the day-to-day issues that cause business owners to stay awake at night, as well as the ways in which a business owner can distort information provided to the bank. It attempts to move away from financial accounting issues to management accounting issues to provide an insight to the challenges facing their customers and the resultant risks to the bank in financing the business. The Module will focus on business issues rather than bank issues, although in doing so, a clearer understanding of business risks will be acquired. These issues will be linked to the reporting required by Credit Division on the ongoing risk management of the accounts, so that managers will see the importance of providing these reports as and when required.