Renee Bonorchis AFRICAN Bank Investments Limited (Abil) was assessing who it lent to more carefully because of an oversupply of credit to its target market, the chief executive of South Africa's biggest provider of unsecured loans has said. The value of consumer loans not backed by assets surged 39 percent in the 12 months to September last year to R140 billion, data from the National Credit Regulator show. "We pulled back in August last year when we saw an oversupply of credit," Abil chief executive Leon Kirkinis said on Friday. "There has been a herd mentality and the growth in credit has been supply-side driven." Abil's nearest rival, Capitec Bank, said this month that a third of people applying for credit were too over-committed to be considered for loans. Fellow microfinancier Bayport cut the number of new loans by 29 percent in November from the month before.