These 2 South African banks are among the most powerful brands in the world
Brand Finance has published its annual Banking 500 report which shows that South African based financial institutions are among the most powerful in the world.
2017’s Brand Finance Banking 500 recorded a major milestone in that for the first time, a non-western brand tops the table.
“Chinese banks’ brand value growth has been rapidly outpacing that of European and North American competitors since the study’s inception. 2017 sees the inevitable conclusion of this trend, as ICBC becomes the world’s most valuable banking brand and total Chinese brand value outstrips that of the US,” Brand Finance said.
Already the world’s biggest bank by assets, ICBC’s brand value has grown 32% year on year to a total of US$47.8 billion, constituting 20% of its US$239 billion market capitalisation.
The world’s top 10 most valuable banks:
Brand Finance noted that ICBC is not an isolated case. China Construction Bank and Bank of China are also growing strongly (by 17% and 13% respectively) and outpacing western banks.
“China’s banks have a number of common attributes that help to explain these impressive results. The first is scale; China’s vast population and the growing prosperity of its citizens create a huge market for its major banks.
“China’s economy and businesses across all sectors are growing rapidly, expanding both organically and through a strong demand for foreign acquisitions, creating opportunity for its lenders and financial service providers,” the consulting firm said.
South African banks feature prominently on the list, headed by Standard Bank, while SA darling, Capitec climbed 36 spots from 2016. Investec also showed good progress from 2016.
Absa meanwhile, climbed above First National Bank on the global list, having shown remarkable recovery over the past five years.
The most valuable banks in South Africa:
2016 | 2017 | Bank | 2016 Brand Value ($m) | 2017 Brand Value ($m) |
---|---|---|---|---|
134 | 130 | Standard Bank | 1 319 | 1 512 |
158 | 144 | Absa | 1 016 | 1 335 |
154 | 157 | FNB | 1 050 | 1 160 |
173 | 166 | Investec | 900 | 1 004 |
170 | 182 | Nedbank | 934 | 934 |
347 | 311 | Capitec | 280 | 367 |
Two local banks feature strongly on the list of most powerful banking brands based on Brand Finance’s Brand Strength Index (BSI).
In order to determine the strength of a brand, the business valuation consultancy developed the BSI by analysing marketing investment, brand equity (the goodwill accumulated with customers, staff and other stakeholders) and finally the impact of those on business performance.
Each brand is assigned a BSI score out of 100, which is fed into the brand value calculation.
FNB and Capitec rank in the top 10 most powerful banking brands in the world.
The 10 Most Powerful Banking Brands:
Find the full list here