Global brand research group Brand Finance has published its 2022 Global 500 Banking report – ranking the most valuable banks in the world, including seven banks from South Africa.
The report also ranks the top 10 strongest banking brands globally, with Capitec bank named as the second strongest in the world.
In the main ranking, Brand Finance ranks banking groups by their brand value, which is calculated by measuring a brand’s performance on intangible measures, relative to its competitors.
Factors that are considered include marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and the impact of those on business performance.
Each brand is also assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Chinese banks dominate ranking
Chinese banks maintain the lead in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking, accounting for one-third of total brand value and worth a cumulative US$454.4 billion.
While their global counterparts saw drops in brand value over the past two years, Chinese banks remained largely impervious to these issues.
“A significant factor to this success was not only the nation’s timely response to the virus, but also the early and continued investment into digital development, allowing Chinese banks to continue engaging with their customers with relatively little disruption,” Brand Finance said.
“Over the past year, China’s economy has continued to recover steadily despite a complex and ever-changing domestic and international environment. In the first half of 2021 alone, the nation’s GDP increased by 13% year-on-year.”
The world’s largest bank by total assets, ICBC’s brand value has increased by 3% to US$75.1 billion, making it the world’s most valuable banking brand again as well as the 8th most valuable brand across all industries
South African banks by value
No South African bank placed within the top 100, with Standard Bank, the highest placed local bank at 145th on the list. However, South Africa’s big banks fared well over the last year, all moving up the rankings.
The most notable change among the local rankings was Standard Bank overtaking First national bank (FNB) to be ranked as the most valuable banking brand in the country. Rand Merchant Bank and Capitec also climbed significantly – up around 50 places in their respective rankings.
Capitec also claimed the spot of the second strongest brand in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking, boasting a BSI score of 92.4 out of 100 and a corresponding AAA+ brand strength rating.
Despite having only been around for 22 years, Capitec Bank has already overtaken many of South Africa’s traditional banks, becoming the second-largest bank by market cap.
“The brand continues to position itself as the nation’s leading retail franchise, delivering a low-cost alternative to traditional banks, and has already built a strong, loyal customer base.
“This helped boost Capitec Bank’s rank as 6th in the world for familiarity, 3rd for its quality of services, and it was noted as the 5th easiest bank to deal with. As the brand continues to uphold a customer-centric business model focused on providing low costs and high-interest rates on deposits, it remains poised for further success,” Brand Finance said.-bustech
