WILMINGTON, Del. – MBNA Corp. Thursday said third-quarter profit climbed almost 11 percent as the world’s largest independent credit-card lender added 2.3 million new accounts and lowered the amount of money it set aside to cover bad loans by 18 percent.

Wilmington-based MBNA had net income of $728.3 million, or 56 cents a share, for the latest quarter, compared with $658.8 million, or 51 cents a share, a year ago.

The latest results matched the average earnings estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call.

MBNA’s provision for credit losses fell to $273.4 million from $334.1 million a year ago. The company said its actual loan losses continue to be lower than published industry levels. Third-quarter losses on loan receivables and managed loans were 4.28 percent and 4.61 percent, respectively, it said.

Net interest income for the quarter rose to $611.7 million from almost $600 million.