First Bank of Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) and Access Bank have emerged as Nigeria’s top bank brands, having been listed among the ‘Top 500 Banking Brands’ by The Banker magazine, published by the Financial Times and Brand Finance London.
A report on Monday showed that for the fourth consecutive year, First Bank of Nigeria has been ranked as the number one banking brand in the country.
The country representative of The Banker Magazine in Nigeria, Mr. Kunle Ogedengbe, explained that First Bank moved up the rankings from 382 in 2014 to 336 in 2015.
The other Nigerian banks that also made the ranking are Zenith, which moved to 388 from 453 in 2014, GTBank, which now sits at 417 from 422, with Access Bank making its début in the ranking.
The brand value of First Bank increased to $300 million in 2015 from $228 million in 2014 and according to the magazine’s economics editor, Silvia Pavoni, brand value represents “the licensing rate that a third-party would need to pay to use that company’s brand.”
Commenting on the methodology of the ranking, Pavoni said Brand Finance obtained brand-specific financial and revenue data; modelled the market to identify market demand and the position of individual banks in the context of all other market competitors; established the royalty rate for each bank; calculated the discount rate specific to each bank, taking into account 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 it defines as its ‘brand value.’
This approach, noted Pavoni, “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.”
Globally, U.S. bank Wells Fargo retained the number one banking brand spot for the third consecutive year, with the top ten populated by banks in China, United Kingdom.
Wells Fargo’s brand value for 2015 is $34.9 billion as against a 2014 value of $30.2 billion, an increase of $4.7 billion.
The top ten banks in the world include; 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, the chief operating officer of Brand Finance, Mr. Bryn Anderson 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 tables and stood out.”
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