Chinese bank brands may steal US banking primacy

Citi, BoA and Chase, US’ 2nd, 3rd and 4th most valuable bank brands have been overtaken by both ICBC and China Construction Bank. When the world’s bank brands are ranked by the brand value they have added in 2015, 6 of the top 10 are Chinese, including 5 of the top 6. China Construction Bank has added nearly USD 7.5 billion. Though Chinese banks have a long way to go before making an impact domestically, they are clearly disrupting Western hegemony in international banking, Brand Finance reports.

Wells Fargo is not just the most valuable banking brand in the US, but across the world. Its brand value now stands at USD 35 billion.

Compared to the European banks, US bank brands have in fact performed relatively well. The improving economy means that despite the legacy of regulatory infractions continuing to impact brand strength, the year on year change for total bank brand value is +4% for the US. For Spain the figure is -2%, the UK -3%, Italy -5%, Germany -6% and France -19%.

60 American bank brands feature in the global top 500, with a cumulative brand value of USD 201 billion. The study has been published annually in the February edition of the Financial Times’ ‘The Banker’ magazine since 2006.