First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank and Access Bank Plc are among the top 500 banks in the world, says a report by The Banker, a London, United Kingdom, UK based magazine. The publication, in its annual 2015 top 500 banking brands, also ranked First Bank of Nigeria as the number one banking brand in the country for the fourth consecutive time.
According to a statement by the Country Representative of the magazine in Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, First Bank moves from being number 382 in 2014 to 336 this year. Zenith Bank moved from 453 in 2014 to 388th position; Guaranty Trust Bank from 422 to 417; while Access Bank made its first entry into the ranking.
The brand value of First Bank has increased to $300 million this year from $228 million in 2014. According to the Economics Editor of the magazine, Silvia Pavoni, the brand value is “the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use that company’s brand.”
Pavoni also commented on the methodology of the ranking, noting the Brand Finance obtained brand-specific financial and revenue data; modelled the market to identify the demand and the position of individual bank in the context of all other market competitors; established the royalty rate for each bank; calculated the discount rate specific to each bank, taking account of its size, geographical presence, reputation, gearing and brand rating and discounted future royalty stream (explicit forecast and perpetuity periods) to a net present value which is the brand value.
This approach, the Economics Editor said, “is used for two reasons: it is favoured by tax authorities and the courts because it calculates brand values by reference to documented third-party transactions and it can be done based on publicly available financial information.”
Wells Fargo of the United States, the report stated, retained the number one banking brand in the world for the third consecutive year and was followed by banks in China, the United Kingdom and Spain in the first 10. Wells Fargo’s brand value for 2015 was put at $34.9 billion as against $30.2 billion in 2014, whach showed an increase of $4.7 billion.
The world’s first 10 banks were given as Well Fargo (USA); ICBC (China); HSBC (UK); China Construction Bank; Citibank, Bank of America, Chase (USA); Agricultural Bank of China; Bank of China; and Santander (Spain).
On the rise of Chinese banks, Bryn Anderson, chief operating officer of Brand Finance, noted that “the Chinese economy has been doing well for a number of years but I think this has been the first year, in terms of brand value, when Chinese banks have climbed up the table and stood out.”
The Banker, a publication of Financial Times, regarded as the most influential newspaper in the world, is a global financial intelligence magazine published since 1926.
It is described as the definitive publication that provides guide to bank ratings and analysis globally and the definitive reference on international banking for finance experts, governments, chief finance officers, CEOs, central bank governors, finance ministers and other decision makers globally.