FNB and Capitec rank among the 10 most powerful banking brands in the world, a new report by Brand Finance shows.
The South African banks scored favourably on a Brand Strength Index (BSI), in which each bank is assigned a score out of 100 based on its marketing investment, goodwill with customers’ staff and stakeholders, and how this relates to the business performance.
The 10 most powerful banking brands
| Bank | Country | BSI Score |
| Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) | China | 85.5 |
| Bank Central Asia (BCA) | Indonesia | 85.3 |
| Bank of China | China | 85.0 |
| First National Bank (FNB) | South Africa | 84.4 |
| HDFC Bank | India | 84.2 |
| Commonwealth Bank | Australia | 83.8 |
| China Construction Bank | China | 83.7 |
| Capitec | South Africa | 83.7 |
| Axis Bank | India | 83.1 |
| Banco de Chile | Chile | 83.1 |
Source: Brand Finance, Banking 500 2017
Chinese banks dominate the list of the top 10 most powerful brands. According to Brand Finance, the index shows relatively higher levels of trust and loyalty in Chinese banks than European or American banks, which have had to weather major banking scandals in the past.
“The combination of domestic loyalty and rapidly improving international recognition and respect has resulted in formidable brand equity results for China’s banks,” it said.
ICBC, the world’s biggest bank by assets, not only topped the Brand Score Index, it is also rated the most valuable banking brand in the world. As per Brand Finance Calculations, it’s brand value increased by 32% year-on-year to $47.8 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 20% of its $239 billion market capitalisation.
The 10 Most Valuable Banking Brands
| Bank | Country | Brand Value ($ m) |
| Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) | China | 47 832 |
| Wells Fargo | USA | 41.618 |
| China Construction Bank | China | 41 377 |
| Chase | USA | 33 737 |
| Bank of China | China | 31 250 |
| Bank of America | USA | 30 273 |
| Agricultural Bank of China | China | 28 511 |
| Citi | USA | 27 674 |
| HSBC | UK | 20 688 |
| Santander | Spain | 15 929 |
Source: Brand Finance, Banking 500 2017
At $258 billion, the aggregate brand value of the Chinese banks in the Brand Finance Banking 500, is the highest in the world for the first time in 2017. The United States, which was home to the most valuable banking brands in 2016, is now in second place with an aggregate bank brand value of $242 billion.
In South Africa, Standard Bank’s brand value of $1.5 billion makes it the most valuable banking brand in the country.
South Africa’s most valuable banking brands
| Bank | Global Ranking | Brand Value ($ m) |
| Standard Bank | 130 | 1 512 |
| Absa | 144 | 1 335 |
| First National Bank (FNB) | 157 | 1 160 |
| Investec | 166 | 1 004 |
| Nedbank | 182 | 943 |
| Capitec | 311 | 367 |
Source: Brand Finance, Banking 500 2017
The five most valuable banks in South Africa are also the top five most valuable banks on the continent. Capitec is ranked as the seventh most valuable bank in Africa, after Egypt’s Commercial International Bank which boasts a brand value of $449 million.
The National Bank of Egypt, Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank and First Bank of Nigeria round out the top 10 most valuable banks in Africa.
South Africa’s Wesbank, the Togo-headquartered pan-African conglomerate Ecobank and Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank fell out of the list of Africa’s most valuable banking brands between 2016 and 2017.
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