According to the Fin24, Absa, one of the biggest retail banks says that its loan book has grown by 12,4% to R12,6 billion while Standard Bank's loans are 33% higher year-on-year and FNB has seen growth of 24% over the past 12 months.
Fin24 quotes Metropolitan Asset Managers' Safs Narker as saying secured lending by the banks has been "mooted" while "unsecured lending" has seen double-digit growth in the past few years. Unsecured lending is more risky for banks as they do not have collateral to attack if the client defaults on the loan.
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