African Bank's operating profit lifted by 42% - to a total of R715m - for the six months ended March 31, the bank said on Tuesday.
This was thanks to lower credit impairment due to reduced risk appetite, as well as better collection methods.
The lender increased its new loan and card business by 9% to R4.792 million, extending 80% of its credit facilities to lower risk customers.
"We have made good progress on our strategy to right-size and modernise the branch network and digitise the business," said CEO Basani Maluleke.
The bank said its 'My World' transactional banking product had been taken up by over 53% of employees since April 4, 2018, and the product would be available to the public later in 2018.
"The growth in both our lending and retail deposit books, coupled with the launch of our 'My World' transnational banking product to our staff, are strong indicators of the execution of our strategy," said Maluleke.
Cash reserves, including surplus liquid assets as at March 31, amounted to R8.6bn, according to the bank, with an average of R52 000 deposit in retail accounts.
The bank, which is 100% owned by African Bank Holdings Limited, said its retail deposits had grown by 90% to R680m since September 30, 2017, and the number of retail depositors stood at 13 000.
"The financial results improved off the back of better risk management processes, while the advances book has stabilised off better new business volumes, notwithstanding the difficult economic conditions experienced during the reporting period," said the bank in a statement.
The bank said it recognised the importance of digitisation to meetevolving customer needs, and the launch of the 'My World' transactional product would help increase its digital footprint.
* SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox.