Good week, bad week: 25 - 29 October

Absa and Government partner to accelerate housing delivery: In support of the South African government's drive to create sustainable human settlements, Absa is launching a Support Programme for Public Housing Practitioners. 290 government officials have applied for the training so far, not bad going.

FNB cellphone banking: Cellphones are slowly becoming an extention of our arms and FNB's cellphnone banking client base has hit 2.5million. They give themselves a big hurrah and a pat on the back for being the first bank in South Africa to acheive this.

Bad week:

Debt in South Africa: These headlines have been regirgutated over and over again and debt in South Africa continues to spiral out of control with many people refusing to admit they have a problem. The advice from the NCR this week? Just speak up if you want to avoid trouble. Is it really that simple?

Home sellers: If you are struggling to sell your home it might be because your asking price is unrealistic, that's according to the experts at FNB anyway. The estimated drop in asking price was 12% for the third quarter of 2010. Ouch.

Reading Ts & Cs: Those with short-term insurance policies might be able to relate to having their claims rejected because of violation cover. The Ombudsman for insurance in South Africa has reminded everyone that actually reading those Ts & Cs is important.