The owner of the most valuable brand in the world is the Chinese bank ICBC and it is worth more than the GDP of Slovenia. Meanwhile, the Europeans are lagging behind and the Russian entities continue to plummet.
Four of the largest Chinese banks top the list of 500 most valuable banking brands in the worldleaving US and European lenders far behind, according to a new report from brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance.
For the eighth consecutive year, ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) takes first place from the list of the 500 most valuable banking brands in the world. The entity increased its brand value by 3%, to 71.8 billion dollars (65.77 billion euros), approximately the equivalent of the nominal GDP of Slovenia.
Importance of brand value
The brand represents one of the assets of a bank. However, it is usually highly valued compared to other assets. To judge the monetary value of an institution's name, Brand Finance closely examined the lenders' ability to capture customers' attention and preferenceas well as the degree of success of these lenders in maintaining customer trust and meaningful connections with their customers, among other things.
The value of the brand combined of the 500 banks in the ranking doubled in the last decadeand rose 2.3% compared to last year, reaching a record level of 1.44 trillion dollars (an amount of money close to Spain's nominal GDP).
Chinese banks occupy five spots in the top ten, demonstrating a strong recovery compared to the previous year.
Nearly two-thirds of the 74 Chinese lenders on the list increased their brand value. “Chinese banking brands have strong reserves and can rely on support from the central government if necessary,” said David Haigh, President and CEO of Brand Finance.
USA It is the second country with the most banks on the list. The country has seen a small decline in its combined brand value (counting all US banks on this list), which stands at $332.2 billion (€304.31 billion).
Countries at the other end of the ranking, which experienced declines in the global brand value of their entities, were led by Russia (69%), Malaysia (20%) and Nigeria (14%).
Due to international sanctions imposed on Russiathe country's two largest brands, VTB and Sber, experienced the biggest drop in the rankings, with a decline of 91% and 63%, respectively.
European banks lag behind
European banks They were just outside the top ten places.. Europe's largest banking brand, HSBC, has a brand value of $20 billion (€18.32 billion) and ranked eleventh in the world, after two years in twelfth position.
The HSBC brand received a boost following its £1 acquisition of the British subsidiary of the ill-fated Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023 and after it set out plans to grow the renowned new entity – which serves the start-up community. ups- in the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia.
According to the report, other European banks have also done well. This year, many countries have seen strong combined brand growth, with an overall 3.2% increase in brand value across the region. France, the Netherlands and Spain They have increased their brand value by around 10% each.
One of the few success stories involved Banco Santander of Spain, which ranked 13th in the ranking. The lender managed to increase its brand value by 12%, to 18.9 billion dollars (17.31 billion euros), after a campaign with sponsorships, including one with Ferrari and F1.
Hungary also stands out, as it managed to increase its global brand value by the most amount among the top 50. “A feat achieved alone by OTP Bank,” says the report, adding that the country's largest commercial bank improved its brand value so much that it rose 46 places in the ranking, to 177th, compared to last year.
Local brands are stronger than global ones
The report calculated part of the brand value, based on how strong a brand is, taking into account how much value the lender brings. This year it has been noted that local banks increasingly outperform global banks in this field.
Indonesia's BCA is the strongest banking brand in the world, and African regional banks score highly on brand strength, measured on a scale of 0 to 100.
“Our study shows that strong national bank brands are filling the customer trust gap,” Haigh says.
Win the hearts and minds of customers
As for how banks can improve their value in the future, “meaningful connections to building a strong brand are key,” Joy Macknight, guest editor at Brand Finance Journal, says in the report.
ADVERTISINGBuilding trust and adding a sense of purpose are some of the most important tools. Meanwhile, new emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), could help, if used well.
In an era where AI could take over tasks like customer service, “the key to success is seamlessly combining motivated employees and cutting-edge technology to deliver relevant services and personalized experiences that truly help customers in the moments that matter,” adds Macknight.
