First Index: Al Baraka climbs five places on EGP 500mn credit card growth

Al Baraka Bank Egypt strengthened its competitive position in the credit card market over the past three and a half years, climbing six places from 26th at end-2022 to 20th at end-June 2026.

The advance was driven by exceptional growth in outstanding credit card balances, enabling the bank to overtake several competitors that had ranked ahead of it at the beginning of the period.

The bank’s credit card portfolio surged to EGP 532.39mn at end-June 2026, from EGP 29.71mn at end-2022, an increase of EGP 502.68mn and a cumulative growth of 1,692.2 per cent.

This brought the portfolio to approximately 17.9 times its level three and a half years earlier.

The significance of this expansion lies in its outperformance of the bank’s overall retail financing growth, alongside an improvement in its competitive position against institutions that started with larger portfolios.

This indicates that growth extended beyond an increase in outstanding balances to a notable shift in the relative weight of credit cards within the bank’s retail banking business.

Al Baraka overtakes KFH-Egypt, Suez Canal Bank from last place

A comparison with Kuwait Finance House – Egypt (KFH-Egypt) and Suez Canal Bank highlights the scale of Al Baraka’s competitive advance, with the bank overtaking both institutions despite trailing them at end-2022.

At end-2022, Al Baraka’s outstanding credit card balances stood at approximately EGP 29.71mn, compared with EGP 41.99mn at KFH-Egypt and EGP 36.46mn at Suez Canal Bank.

By end-June 2026, the competitive order had reversed. Al Baraka’s portfolio reached approximately EGP 532.39mn, exceeding KFH-Egypt’s EGP 370.48mn and Suez Canal Bank’s EGP 280.56mn.

Al Baraka consequently turned an EGP 12.28mn deficit against KFH-Egypt into a lead of EGP 161.91mn. Against Suez Canal Bank, its initial EGP 6.75mn shortfall became an advantage of EGP 251.83mn.

Credit cards gain a larger share of retail financing

The impact of this growth extended beyond competition between banks, reshaping the composition of Al Baraka’s retail financing portfolio.

Credit card balances recorded cumulative growth of 1,692.2 per cent over the period, compared with 361 per cent for total retail financing.

The bank’s retail financing portfolio expanded to EGP 19.94bn at end-June 2026, from EGP 4.33bn at end-2022. Credit card balances therefore grew at approximately 4.7 times the percentage growth rate of the overall retail financing portfolio.

This divergence lifted the share of credit cards in total retail financing to 2.67 per cent at end-June 2026, from just 0.69 per cent at end-2022.

The figures highlight the growing importance of credit cards within Al Baraka’s retail financing business, although their contribution remains relatively modest compared with other financing products.

2024 and 2025 account for 81% of portfolio expansion

The strongest expansion in Al Baraka’s credit card balances was concentrated in 2024 and 2025, which together accounted for 81.3 per cent of the total increase recorded between end-2022 and end-June 2026, adding EGP 408.49mn.

After the portfolio reached EGP 60.03mn at end-2023, 2024 delivered the fastest annual percentage growth of the period. Outstanding balances surged 304.9 per cent to EGP 243.04mn, an increase of EGP 183.01mn.

In 2025, the bank recorded its largest annual increase in absolute terms, adding EGP 225.48mn to bring the portfolio to EGP 468.52mn, representing growth of 92.8 per cent.

The figures show that 2024 marked the sharpest acceleration in percentage growth, while 2025 consolidated the expansion through larger absolute additions, despite a slower growth rate as the portfolio increased in size.

During H1 2026, Al Baraka continued to expand its credit card balances, adding approximately EGP 63.87mn, equivalent to growth of 13.6 per cent since the beginning of the year, taking the portfolio beyond EGP 500mn.

Over the past three and a half years, credit cards have therefore evolved from a relatively small business into an increasingly important component of Al Baraka’s retail financing portfolio.

The expansion, coupled with Al Baraka’s advance past competitors with previously larger portfolios, marks a notable strengthening of its competitive position in the credit card market.