In line with the recent reports on the performance of various credit providers is the article by Business Report on the performance of Standard Bank.

“Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank, said first-half profit rose as much as 30 percent as lower interest rates spurred an increase in lending.

“The momentum of consumer lending was still going great guns over the period,” Steve Meintjes, an analyst at Imara SP Reid, said by phone from Johannesburg.

South African banks, which reap fees from debit and credit card transactions, have profited from a surge in credit demand and consumer spending, spurred by low interest rates. Lenders like Standard Bank, which earns half its income from corporate and investment banking, have also benefited from an expanding economy and a stock market that gained in the first half.”