And so Providian sold its insurance operations last year to concentrate on consumer lending.

The impressive growth of consumer lending is hardly at risk, but one cannot be certain that borrowed funds will not become more expensive.

The banks are still learning their way around large-scale consumer lending, a business they neglected for decades.

Subprime consumer lending has gone through a terrible period, as has credit card quality.

Russia, already lagging far behind the developed world in terms of consumer lending, will see this gap continue to widen.

Moreover, loan losses are edging up, particularly from consumer lending.

Primary product of the company is consumer lending.

And consumer lending is the brightest area of the banking business today.

"We happen to be good at consumer lending and student loans and credit cards."

Growth is expected from consumer lending and mortgages, which are starting to catch on in Russia.