SA banks Market Share: March 2026 Growth in total advances rise on ZAR weakness

Research evidence excerpt

SA banks Market Share: March 2026 Growth in total advances rise on ZAR weakness

26 May 2026

SA banks Market Share: EquitiesCommercial Banks

March 2026

Growth in total advances rise on ZAR weakness South Africa

◆ Y-o-y growth in core loans slows to 7.4% due to base effects Henry Hall*

Banks Analyst

◆ Nedbank has the highest ratio of long-term deposits to total HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, DIFC

henry.hall@hsbc.com

deposits, FirstRand the lowest +27 11 880 1855

Harish Paliwal*

◆ Absa continues to cut back on unsecured personal loans Associate

Bangalore

Industry: Y-o-y growth in total industry loans improved from 7.2% in February to 8%

* Employed by a non-US affiliate of HSBC Securities (USA) Inc, and is

in March as foreign currency loans (FCLs) increased 4.8% in the month on ZAR not registered/ qualified pursuant to FINRA regulations

weakness. Although core loans grew 0.4% in the month, the y-o-y growth rate slowed

from 8.8% in February to 7.4% in March due to base effects.

Deposit structures: With a radical change in the interest rate outlook in March, it is

in banks’ interest to lengthen their deposit structures. We only see reductions in the

ratio of short-term deposits to total deposits in March at Absa (a 1.2% reduction from

64% to 62.8%) and Capitec (a 0.4% reduction from 68.6% to 68.2%). Nedbank

seems well positioned for rising rates with the highest ratio of long-term deposits

(maturing in >180 days) to total deposits at 31.5% followed by Absa (23.6%), Capitec

(16.7%), Stanbank (12.9%) and FirstRand (10%). These ratios are only for deposits

(not total funding) and are before changes to maturity profiles with derivatives.

Unsecured personal loans: While at an industry level y-o-y growth in unsecured