The largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), QNB has consolidated its position as the most valuable banking brand in the region, observing a healthy brand value growth of 16% to reach $7.1 billion. 

 

According to the latest report by Brand Finance published in The Banker magazine, QNB also rose three spots to 45th place overall, now firmly situated amongst the 50 most valuable banking brands in the world.

 

This is at a time when the world’s top 500 banking brands turn tide on brand value contraction for first time in three years, going up by 9% to all-time high of $1.38 trillion.

 

Every year, leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest brands to the test, and publishes nearly 100 reports, ranking brands across all sectors and countries. The world’s top 500 most valuable and strongest banking brands are included in the annual Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking.

 

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, QNB continued to provide a high level of service for its customers alongside investing heavily into the development of the brand’s digital offering. This focus has allowed QNB to continue delivering successful campaigns, products, and services and build a strong portfolio which will prime the brand for future growth opportunities and international exposure.

 

David Haigh, Chairman & CEO of Brand Finance, commented: “QNB’s growth outpaced the average of the top 50 banking brands, reflecting the hard work put behind the brand and business over the last few years. The brand has acted as a unifying force across its operations, which have benefitted from the significant investment in digital services for retail and corporate clients, and has helped consolidate QNB’s position in the top 50 of the Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking.

 

“Across the banking sector, the key drivers of a strong brand are strong stakeholder perceptions of its range of products and services, the quality of its digital platforms, strong customer service and overall accessibility to customers. QNB has excelled on these KPIs over the past year, which is evidenced by its growth in both brand value and strength over the last 12 months.”

 

Meanwhile, worth over $450 billion, Chinese banks make up one third of total brand value in Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking; ICBC retains title of world’s most valuable brand.

US banks account for 5 of top 10, with Bank of America nation’s most valuable brand. Some 30 new entrants make the list this year, with SNB ranking highest at 94th.

 

Of these new entrants, Saudi Arabia’s SNB (brand value $3.2 billion) is situated firmly in the top 100, in 94th position, making it the highest-ranked new entrant. 

 

A significant rise in profits as well as emphasis on its sustainability initiatives have helped nudge SNB onto the world stage, with the brand recently announcing its plans to create a platform focusing on long-term investments in sustainable economic activities.

 

Indonesia’s BCA reclaims title of world’s strongest banking brand, scoring 94/100 and elite AAA+ rating.

 

The world’s top 500 banking brands have turned the tide on brand value contraction for the first time in three years, observing a 9% year-on-year brand value growth to reach an all-time high of $1.38 trillion.

 

The brand value of the world’s largest banks shrunk by 2% by the beginning of 2020 ($1.33 trillion) and a further 4% by 2021 ($1.27 trillion). Initially caused by economic uncertainty and interest rate movements, the situation was exacerbated by the pandemic, which saw profit and interest rates take a hit.

 

However, as nations continued to adapt to Covid-19 and economies rebounded over the last year, loan loss provisions were much less significant than initially forecasted by industry experts. Furthermore, improved digitalisation by banking brands, coupled with a strong government intervention and economic recovery around the world resulted in a higher than expected industry profitability in 2021.

 

While this year’s overall brand value growth is undoubtedly a positive sign for the industry, it signifies a meagre 2% increase from $1.36 trillion, which was the combined pre-pandemic brand value of the world’s top 500 banking brands in 2019. Particularly in Europe, banks are still feeling the effects of Covid-19, where weak profits are not helped by cost inefficiency and insufficient investments in digital technology.

 

Haigh commented: “As banks continue to battle the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of a solid brand is more significant than ever. Banking products are becoming more commoditised, and banks will need to continue differentiating themselves from other competitors in the market, through the use of their brand, particularly in the face of an emerging threat from challenger brands and decentralised finance in the future.”

 

“Many of the world’s largest banking brands have come through the worst of the pandemic stronger – a testament to the role they have played in supporting the real economy through the past 12 months,” said Joy Macknight, editor of The Banker. “Banks’ digital transformation efforts over recent years meant they were able to respond faster to client needs, as well as deliver new products and services, which has boosted banks’ reputations in the eyes of their retail and corporate customers.” 

 

CHINESE BANKS DOMINATE

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 $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. 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 $75.1 billion, making it the world’s most valuable banking brand again as well as the 8th most valuable brand across all industries in the Brand Finance Global 500 2022 ranking. 

 

Over the past year, ICBC has continued to fare well with consumers and expand its portfolio, opening branches in foreign markets such as Mexico, Argentina, and most recently Panama. ICBC continues to outshine its competitors, holding a healthy brand value lead ahead of China Construction Bank (up 10% to $65.5 billion) and Agricultural Bank of China (up 17% to $62.0 billion), which rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

 

Declan Ahern, Valuation Director at Brand Finance, commented: “Chinese banks have performed extraordinarily well this year, with no signs of growth slowing down for years to come. This was undoubtedly aided by the country’s timely response to the pandemic, which reduced the level of economic disruption observed by its counterparts in Europe and the US.”

 

US banks account for almost a quarter of the total brand value in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking, worth a cumulative brand value of $313.7 billion. Of these 76 brands, Bank of America (up 12% to $36.7 billion), Citi (up 7% to $34.4 billion), Chase (up 5% to $30.1 billion), Wells Fargo (down 6% to $30.1 billion), and JP Morgan (up 23% to $28.9 billion) have held on to their spots in the top 10 of the world’s most valuable. 

 

Dropping 1 spot in the ranking to 8th position, Wells Fargo is the only bank in the top 10 with a contracting brand value. Wells Fargo continues to be undermined by the account fraud scandal, where it emerged that the bank had forged millions of savings and checking accounts on behalf of its clients without their consent. The scandal continued to bring about financial and legal consequences in 2021.

 

Looking beyond East Asia and North America, HSBC (12th, up 6% to $18.0 billion) is the most valuable banking brand in Europe, Singapore’s DBS (39th, up 11% to $8.7 billion) leads the way in Southeast Asia, State Bank of India is number #1 in South Asia (43rd, up 29% to $7.5 billion), and Itaú (51st, up 30% to $6.6 billion) dominates in Latin America.

 

NEW ENTRANTS

30 newcomers have joined the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking this year, with new entrants such as Greece’s Piraeus Bank (brand value $176 million), Israel’s Mercantile Discount Bank (brand value $188 million), and Kenyan Equity Group (brand value $388 million) hailing from smaller and emerging markets.

 

With an eyewatering brand value increase of 181%, Cadence Bank has re-entered the ranking as the fastest-growing brand of 2022, reaching a brand value of $403 million. The US-based bank has recently entered into a merger agreement with BancorpSouth Bank, which held a brand value of $266 million in the 2021 iteration of the Brand Finance Banking 500 ranking. 

 

As part of the agreement BancorpSouth has rebranded to Cadence Bank. The merger aims to provide more customer and relationship-focused financial services to Cadence Bank’s extensive customer base across the southern US.

 

BCA AS SECTOR’S STRONGEST

Apart from calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics evaluating marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance. 

 

Certified by ISO 20671, Brand Finance’s assessment of stakeholder equity incorporates original market research data from over 100,000 respondents in more than 35 countries and across nearly 30 sectors.

 

According to these criteria, Indonesia’s BCA is the strongest bank in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 ranking, following a +2.5 point increase to reach a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 94.0 out of 100 and an elite AAA+ brand strength rating.

 

As one of the biggest banks in the Asean region and Indonesia’s largest lender by market value, BCA has performed strongly across key metrics, particularly those pertaining to customer satisfaction. In Brand Finance’s original market research, BCA outperformed its peers for reputation and quality, and scored highly for value for money.

 

Over the last year, the brand has undoubtedly been bolstered by significant investments in its digital banking arm, as the quality of digital platforms remains an important factor in customer perceptions of banking brands. BCA shows no signs of slowing down in the coming year, recently outlining its plans to list BCA Digital on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

 

Ahern said: “BCA’s performance is an excellent example of the importance of customer relationships in building brand loyalty and reputation. The brand has consistently scored favourably across brand strength metrics for the last few years, now reclaiming its spot as the strongest banking brand in the world.”-- TradeArabia News Service