In the past two years, the performance of Russia’s consumer lending industry has been nothing short of extraordinary. Among banks with Tier 1 capital of more than $50m, seven of the top 10 banks for return on assets in 2011 were specialists in consumer lending. Total retail lending grew about 40% in 2012, with unsecured consumer lending rising by about 60% depending on how the term is defined.
Credit card balances grew by more than 80% according to analysis by Tinkoff Credit Systems. Lenders including Tinkoff, Svyaznoy Bank, Alfa Bank, National Bank Trust and even Sberbank, the country’s largest, more than doubled their credit card portfolios in 2012.
