Citi acquisition to raise proportion of higher-margin unsecured lending in UOB’s consumer business

UOB’S consumer business could enjoy a lift in margins with the addition of the consumer portfolio acquired from Citi, which is skewed towards unsecured lending and credit cards, said a senior executive at the bank.

The newly acquired Citi consumer portfolio will likely double contributions from the unsecured lending business by the end of 2023, and grow income contributions to about 27 per cent to 30 per cent, said Jacquelyn Tan, UOB’s head of group personal financial services.

Unsecured lending is a “high net interest margin, high return on equity type of business”, she added.