The unsecured consumer lending and credit card business is delivering impressive returns in Russia. In total, five of the top 10 banks for return on assets (ROA) in Russia are specialists in consumer lending. A sixth consumer lending bank, Russian Standard, lies at number 11, with a return on assets of 3.51%.
Locally owned Russian Standard effectively founded the sector in Russia in 1999, but consumer credit is now predominantly a business for foreign players, including the US-based GE Money and Hungary’s OTP. The second best performer, Home Credit, is owned by PPF Group, the investment vehicle of Czech entrepreneur Petr Kellner, while Credit Europe Bank is owned by Fiba Group, which was founded by Turkish banking pioneer Husnu Ozyegin. Among the consumer lenders in the top 10 for ROA, only Orient Express Bank is locally owned.
