Payment services company, Visa, has been named the most valuable financial brand name in the annual valuation of the world’s top 100 brands, compiled by Kantar.
But HSBC, Morgan Stanley and China Life all failed to make the top 100 in this year’s Kantar Brandz rankings, which assesses the most valuable company brands across all industries.
In the 2023 study, Visa was the highest-placed financial services company to make the top 100, ranked 6th, ahead of MasterCard (9th) and American Express (47th).
Royal Bank of Canada was the highest-ranked bank at 51, ahead of Wells Fargo (53rd) and HDFC Bank (56th). Ping An (85th) topped the list of insurers, followed by AIA Group (90th).
The financial services category includes retail and institutional brands, B2B and B2C insurance businesses including life, property, and casualty, and payment brands.
These cross-sector rankings are compiled from 4.2 million consumer interviews in 54 global markets, covering 540 industry categories. The research agency uses financial metrics and market research to calculate the value of each company’s brand.
“In the US, the failure of Silicon Valley Bank highlighted the risks smaller banks faced amid rising interest rates and jittery investor confidence,” a Kantar spokesperson said. “In Europe, the collapse of Credit Suisse further underscored the importance of reputation management.
“In some Asian markets, especially, brands are being challenged on brand equity by new, disruptive payments platforms and super-apps.”
Visa scored exceptionally well for brand trust and convenience in the 2023 study.
“Habit remains a critical advantage for Visa globally,” researchers concluded. “Visa is perceived as a highly trusted brand, that always works well, and which fits easily into consumers’ everyday shopping habits.”
The research noted that the ongoing macroeconomic headwinds have placed a dampener on the stock prices of publicly traded financial brands. This, they said, negatively affects brand valuations for the purposes of these rankings.
Researchers noted a handful of brands that were fast climbing up the rankings, despite currently sitting outside of the global top 100. Saudi Arabia’s Alrajhi Bank, Brazil’s Nubank and Japan’s largest online bank, Rakuten Bank were all noted as potential challengers in the years to come.
Kantar Brandz 2023 – Finance brands in the Top 100
