PURCO SA Core Business Segments - PURQ Academic Information platform
PURQ is a state of the art academic information
platform. It provides a unique, online service for students
and graduates, with the specific aim of making their
academic information accessible and enabling them to
realise direct benefits from their qualifications.
The platform is wholly owned by PURCO SA on behalf of
its Higher Education Members,
All data hosted on the PURQ platform is held in custodial
trust for the originating institutions, and all access is
subject to stringent security and privacy protocols.
For participating education Institutions that contribute
their academic records onto the platform, PURQ provides
ongoing annuity revenue, cost savings, risk management
and resource optimisation benefits - while providing real
value to their students and graduates. Contributors also
receive a share of the PURQ annual surplus in rebates.
These benefits come with zero outlay, no licensing fees,
no systems development and no ongoing costs.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
Since PURCO SA completed the acquisition of PURQ in
2018 the business has delivered impressive results across
all indices. PURQ achieved new performance milestones
in 2021-2022 year.
• 125% annual revenue growth for 2021-2022
• 197% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) since
acquisition of the business
• R16.4 million surplus after tax to Members.
CONTRIBUTORS
More than 75% of academic information is included in the
PURQ footprint, which includes the Namibia University
of Science and Technology as well as private colleges
within the IIE Group.
A strategic plan is in place to encourage all South African
public universities to participate in the collaborative
platform.
During 2021 the Mangosuthu University of Technology
and the University of Venda joined the PURQ platform,
and work is in progress on agreements with the University
of Cape Town, University of Johannesburg, and the
University of the Witwatersrand.
VALUE PROPOSITION
PURQ offers four core services for students and Higher
Education institutions:
• Collaborative online source of academic information
• Enrolment verifications
• Electronic exchange of academic transcripts
• Financial and retail benefits for students, including
risk profiling and credit scorecard applications.
Before PURQ’s intervention, graduates with no
credit history have traditionally been conservatively
assessed on criteria that excluded their academic
qualifications, resulting in higher interest rates.
PURQ has partnered with credit bureaus to create
an alternative data scorecard which uses academic
qualification data to boost graduates’ credit scores
and qualify them for competitive interest rates.
PURQ has built relationships with eight banks, three
credit bureaus, and a range of background screening
companies to develop student-specific benefits.
DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY
PURQ is fully POPIA compliant, uses local data centres
and follows international financial industry best practice
security protocols. n