Cards and deposits grow strongly
One in four St George customers has a bank branded credit card, up from 22.7 per cent in the eighteen months from March 2006.Fegan said the bank is aiming to double credit card market share to eight per cent by 2010, driven by sales to existing customers, which currently account for 70 per cent of new sales.The 'Vertigo MasterCard' launched in May 2006 has attracted 85,000 customers with $347 million in balances.The total credit card portfolio stands at $1.5 billion with over 500,000 customers, and the bank outlined quality remains sound and within expected ranges.Retail deposits increased 10.9 per cent for the year to $47.8 billion, with stronger growth in the second half annualised at 13.2 per cent.The key deposit drivers were a 15 per cent growth in transactional account balances to $17 billion, and the 19 per cent growth in business transaction account balances to $7 billion.