Standard Bank (SBK) has lent R75 billion to its personal and business customers in South Africa over the past year, Peter Schlebusch, the CEO of Personal and Business Banking (PBB) at Standard Bank South Africa revealed on Thursday.
“This growth is very significant as it represents an increase of almost 50% from the R50bn lent by PBB in 2010, and should be seen within the context of a very uncertain and sluggish economic environment,” said Schlebusch.
He said that this amount made a considerable difference in the lives of Standard Bank customers and it should be noted that even during times of economic uncertainty, Standard Bank continued to support its South African customers.
Schlebusch said that “all areas of our business have shown increases in payouts and many areas have increased market share”.
Standard Bank is now the largest player in the home loans market with R34bn in payouts in 2011. This has enabled “thousands of customers to live their dreams and it has also had a significantly positive impact on housing provision in South Africa.” This was particularly relevant in the affordable housing market, where Standard Bank is the market leader, and payouts jumped by an impressive 54% year on year.
In terms of vehicle and asset financing, Schlebusch noted that “Standard Bank's Vehicle and Asset financing market share has grown in both customer number and balances.” Standard Bank had also grown credit card market share and remained the largest credit card issuer in the industry.
In all of the unsecured lending portfolios positive growth had been observed, with specific focus on ensuring that “the emerging market in South Africa had all of their credit needs met.” This includes Student Loans which Schlebusch pointed out “has a profound impact on the future of South Africa as education is an important catalyst for idea generation and job creation.”
While the growth in credit extension from Standard Bank is very positive for the economy, Schlebusch also noted that it was important that “as SA's largest bank we continue to be responsible in our lending practices for all forms of credit extension.” He re-iterated that all lending was pursued in a “responsible and consistent manner as required by our customers and regulators.”
Schlebusch noted that Standard Bank's impressive growth in loan payouts for 2011 highlighted its goal of making a meaningful contribution to the life of all individuals in South Africa, which in turn stimulated the economy and created jobs.
“We are looking forward to growing this payout even more in 2012 to continue helping our customers and growing the economy.” - I-Net Bridge