South African Commercial Debt Recovery
Pulse Collect is a CFDC-registered specialist in B2B commercial debt recovery. We work for South African businesses on a strict no-success, no-fee basis — and we move fast, because under the Prescription Act, every day past 90 narrows your odds.
Registered with the Council for Debt Collectors
Verified at cfdc.org.za →The Recovery Window
Day 0
Invoice due
Day 0 — the obligation crystallises.
Day 90
High recovery zone
80–90% recovery rates. The optimal handover window.
Day 240
Caution zone
Recovery rates fall sharply. Escalation becomes critical.
Day 1095
Prescription
Three years. The claim is legally extinguished if not interrupted.
Under South Africa's Prescription Act 68 of 1969, most ordinary commercial debts become legally unenforceable after three years from the date the debt became due. Once prescription completes and your debtor raises it as a defence, the court will dismiss your claim — no matter how legitimate the invoice.
What most credit teams don't realise is that prescription can be interrupted and reset — but only by specific actions, taken in time. A polite reminder email won't do it. A signed Acknowledgement of Debt will. A summons, properly served, will. An informal payment plan will not.
Our analysis of thousands of B2B accounts shows a clear pattern: debts handed to a registered collector before Day 90 recover at 80–90%. After Day 240, that rate falls sharply, and prescription risk rises with every passing month.
The implication is uncomfortable but useful: timing matters more than tactics. The single most expensive mistake in commercial credit is waiting too long to escalate.
Services
We focus on one thing: getting your unpaid B2B invoices paid. Every service below is contingency-priced. You only pay when we recover.
Letter of demand, structured negotiation, and payment plan brokerage — all conducted by a named case manager with full debtor history at hand. Most disputes resolve here, without the cost or relationship damage of court action.
When pre-legal fails, we instruct our panel of admitted attorneys to issue summons, obtain default judgment, and execute. We manage the matter end-to-end and keep the legal spend tight and predictable.
An AOD properly drafted and signed restarts the prescription clock and locks in repayment terms. We draft, deliver, and witness — with formal AOD templates that have held up across SA jurisdictions.
When a debtor goes silent or relocates, we use compliant, POPIA-aligned tracing to confirm current address, employment status, and asset position before further action.
Outstanding invoices in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, or further afield. We manage local-jurisdiction enforcement through vetted partner firms, with one consolidated reporting line back to you.
For high-volume debtor books, we operate as a white-labelled extension of your finance team — managing follow-ups, reconciliations, and escalations against agreed SLAs and aging targets.
Industries
Process
Five stages. One named case manager. Reports every two weeks. No surprises.
You upload the invoice, statement, and any prior correspondence via our secure portal. Within 48 hours, we verify the debt, confirm CFDC compliance for the matter, run prescription checks, and assign your dedicated case manager.
We issue a formal Section 129-style letter of demand by registered mail and email. The letter sets out the debt, fees, and a clear deadline — typically 10 business days — to settle or arrange payment.
If the debtor responds, we negotiate. Most matters settle here, often as a lump sum or a short-term payment plan secured by a signed AOD. You're informed of every offer; you authorise every settlement.
If pre-legal collection fails, we hand the matter to our attorney panel. Summons, default judgment, and execution follow on a defined timetable. You receive a clear cost estimate before any litigation step.
Recovered funds are paid into our trust account and remitted to you weekly, with a full reconciliation. We report fortnightly throughout the matter, and you have 24/7 portal access to the case file.
Differentiators
Typical agency
Focus
Mixed consumer + commercial books
Pricing
Upfront fees, retainers, mixed contingency
Contact model
Call-centre rotation
Compliance
CFDC registration unclear or expired
Reporting
Monthly, on request
Legal escalation
Outsourced ad-hoc, no cost control
PulseCollect
Focus
B2B commercial only
Pricing
Strict no-success, no-fee
Contact model
One named case manager per client
Compliance
Active CFDC registration, clean record
Reporting
Fortnightly written reports + 24/7 portal
Legal escalation
Pre-vetted attorney panel, fixed-fee escalation
Compliance
When you instruct an unregistered or non-compliant collector, the legal exposure flows back to you. Here's the regulatory architecture we work within, and the protections it gives our clients.
The foundational statute. It establishes the Council for Debt Collectors and makes registration mandatory for anyone collecting debt for reward in South Africa. We've held active registration since [YYYY], with an unblemished compliance record. You can verify our status anytime at cfdc.org.za/active-register.
Primarily consumer credit legislation, but it also applies to mixed-use credit and sole-proprietor accounts that fall under its threshold. We screen every matter at intake to determine NCA applicability and apply the correct procedural rules — including Section 129 notices where required.
Fully enforced since 1 July 2021. POPIA governs how we process debtor information — including data of juristic persons. We hold ISO-aligned information security controls, an appointed Information Officer, and signed POPIA-compliance schedules with every client mandate.
Sets the time limits for legal enforcement of debt. Most ordinary commercial debts prescribe at three years from the date due. We run prescription checks at intake on every matter, flag risk windows, and time enforcement steps to interrupt prescription where lawful and appropriate.
Pulse Collect is a registered debt collector under the Debt Collectors Act 114 of 1998. Verify our registration at cfdc.org.za.
At a glance
What we commit to, where we work, and the legal deadline that shapes every commercial matter.
80–90% range based on commercial-debt aging research. SLAs and coverage are service commitments, not historical claims.
Case Studies
Anonymised to protect client confidentiality. All figures are factual and the procedural steps are exactly as they occurred.
Outcome — Full recovery in 41 days via signed AOD + 6-month payment plan, no litigation.
Pre-legal stage only. Client retained the commercial relationship.
Outcome — Filed claim with the business rescue practitioner; recovered 78% (R 695k) through the approved business rescue plan.
Demonstrates value of timely engagement with rescue proceedings.
Outcome — Recovered in full via Lusaka partner firm in 73 days, through structured demand and threat of liquidation application.
Shows the cross-border recovery network in action.
What clients say
We've used three different agencies over the last decade. Pulse Collect is the only one whose reports we don't have to chase. Recovery happens, and we hear about it before we have to ask.
Patricio Manuel
CEO · Atlas Industrial Group
What sold me was the prescription audit they ran on our entire ledger in week one. They flagged R 1.4m of risk we didn't know existed. Two of those have since been recovered.
David
CEO · Northbridge Wholesale
Calm, professional, and unflinchingly compliant. They've never made me reach for the CFDC code to check anything.
Sergio Christo
CEO · Karoo Logistics SA
FAQ
Hand over a debt
Send us the basics. Within one business day, we'll come back with a tailored case plan and a clear next step. No obligation, and no fees unless we recover.