TIGHTER lending criteria, worsening economic conditions and stricter affordability assessments had driven a R5bn decline in lending via credit facilities in the year to June, says the National Credit Regulator (NCR). Over the three months to June 2016, lending across credit facilities declined by R1.3bn (a 10% drop) to R12.05bn. Credit facilities include any revolving credit, such as store cards, credit cards, petrol cards and overdrafts. Banks dominated this type of lending in terms of value, but store cards had the largest number of individual credit agreements, said NCR head of statistics Ngoako Mabeba. The most recent financial results from the big four banks show that only FNB posted meaningful growth in its retail card business, which expanded 13% over the year to June. Standard Bank and Nedbank reported low, single-digit growth in their card books over the period. Absa, which has the biggest market share, reported a 2% decline in card lending and a 6% drop in the number of ac...
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