Banking

These are the most valuable banks in South Africa in 2018

Staff Writer

 ·22 May 2018

Brand valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance has released a ranking of the most valuable brands in South African in 2018, with First National Bank ranking as the top bank in the country.

Brand Finance ranked the most valuable companies in the country, with mobile network MTN topping the overall list, valued at R44.2 billion – an increase of 8% from 2017, and more than the second and third-ranked companies combined.

Vodacom, MTN’s biggest competitor in the South African mobile market, ranks second, with a brand value of R27.5 billion (up 13%), followed by FNB, with a brand value of R19.4 billion (up 22%).

According to Brand Finance, South Africa’s overall brand value increased by 8% over the past year to R426 billion, with indications pointing to an economic recovery after several years of decline.

Best banks

South Africa’s biggest banks all feature well within the top 10, with the likes of FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and Investec all featuring.

Below FNB’s valuatio of R19.4 billion, Absa and Standard Bank follow in succession, with a brand value of R18.9 billion and R18.5 billion, respectively.

Investec ranked 8th overall with a valuation of R billion, followed by Nedbank, with a brand value of R billion.

According to Brand Finance, FNB was the big winner over the last year with its brand value rising 22%. This earned the bank a jump from being South Africa’s 7th biggest brand to now becoming the 3rd most valuable brand in the country.

“Despite facing the same broader challenging macroeconomic environment, First National Bank has particularly focused on cross-selling other financial services to its customers, allowing its brand value growth to outpace its closest competitors,” the group said.

Capitec 

Despite not featuring in the top 10, Brand Finance said Capitec has the country’s strongest brand.

In addition to measuring overall brand value, Brand Finance also evaluates the relative strength of brands, based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, loyalty, staff satisfaction, and corporate reputation. Along with the level of revenues, brand strength is a crucial driver of brand value.

According to these criteria, Capitec Bank (with a brand value up 35% to R6.8 billion) became South Africa’s strongest brand, taking over from First National Bank.

“Capitec’s brand strength has benefited from positive perceptions amongst its core customer base, which is consistent with their introduction of more unsecured credit offerings with interest rates as low as 12.9% in some circumstances. A focus on reducing legal and administration costs are particularly attractive to their client base, which grew by 1.2 million clients over the last year,” the group said.

Overall ranking

Brand Finance’s rankings are based on a measure of the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing their brand. Brand strength is used to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand.

These are the most valuable brands in South Africa in 2018:

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