Challenger banks made significant advances in this year’s ranking, successfully building customer trust in a digital environment, while European brands experienced a resurgence.
This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Banking 500 2025 report. Data referenced in this article is sourced directly from the report.
Editorial Contributor,
Brand Finance Journal
For the fourth year running, the aggregate brand value of the Top 500 Banking Brands has registered growth, but it’s the first time in those four years that the ranking has managed a double-digit increase. After a few lacklustre years of around 2% rise, total brand value of the 2025 list has swelled by 13% – the highest expansion rate since 2019 when it grew by 15%. The total brand value now stands at $1.6 trillion.
“The high interest environment seen in many major economies has undoubtedly contributed to brand value growth, and more generally profit and share price value growth in 2024,” says Annie Brown, valuation director at Brand Finance. “But longer term, brand value is being driven by an accelerating undercurrent of four key factors: regulation, digital innovation, increased emphasis on fees-based income versus interest margins, and a focus on brand building to hold a competitive edge.”
Brown reports a multitude of strategies and tactics to build brand value and retain trust in the light of current challenges facing banking brands. “It’s exciting to see how much innovation there is in this space. From digitally enabled customer experience improvements to major mass media, or ‘above the line’, campaigns to financial inclusion, banking brands are working hard to maintain customers’ trust,” she says.
Rise of the neobanks
Continuous innovation is becoming increasingly important to stay competitive, as digital-first challenger banks continue to move up the ranks. For example, the two fastest growing brands by percentage this year are neobanks: Revolut, which surged 795% to reach a $1.9 billion valuation; and Nubank, which grew 195% to $4.0 billion.
Impressively, Brazil’s Nubank climbed 83 positions to 90th place, entering the top 100 for the first time. It’s now the fourth biggest banking brand in Latin America, rapidly expanding its customer base domestically, as well as in Colombia and Mexico.
Joining the top 500 for the first time just two years ago, Revolut now sits in 144th position. It jumped 327 spots due to strong revenue growth and customer expansion, as well as an upgraded brand strength rating from A+ to AA. The bank made gains on the back of significant marketing investment and its ‘Future of Money’ campaign, which launched across 17 markets and spanned TV, print, social, radio, and out-of-home channels.
“In 2024, we invested heavily in making Revolut a household name through multiple large-scale brand campaigns, a strong presence in key travel hubs and engaging major consumer events in France, Spain, the UK and Hungary, enabling us to connect with targeted audiences at scale,” says Antoine Le Nel, who was promoted to Revolut’s chief growth and marketing officer in mid-2024.
Last year the UK bank hosted ‘The Revolutionaries’, a milestone event celebrating its 50 million customers – “one of our biggest moments”, says Le Nel. The two-day, customer-exclusive experience was designed to deepen engagement and thank customers. “The event set a new precedent in the industry, demonstrating our dedication to putting our customers at the centre of everything we do,” he adds.
In another meteoric leap, Dutch challenger bunq has entered the ranking for the first time, jumping in at 309th place and joining national heavyweights ING, Rabobank and ABN Amro.
“We want to build a bank that people love to use and are willing to pay for, not because they have to but because it truly makes their life easy. As such, brand value is about the real impact we make through our products and features,” says Bianca Zwart, chief strategy officer at bunq.
The bank organises live events to unveil its latest features. Users fly to Amsterdam from across Europe for the updates, which have been instrumental in building a strong, engaged user community for more than a decade, according to Zwart.
bunq’s most successful campaign in 2024 was the launch of a 3.36% bonus savings rate for new customers in July. “When the European Central Bank started raising interest rates, we passed that benefit on to users in our core markets. Customers were attracted by the clear promise and then saw other benefits when using the product,” she explains.
Brown believes that digitally native banks will continue to perform well. “Additionally, larger banks with deep pockets will thrive with new digital innovations to enhance efficiencies and lower costs, as well as improve customer experience and build brand loyalty,” she says. “This means that smaller, regional banks may fall to the wayside if they struggle to keep pace with the rate of innovation at the top of the market.”
Chinese lenders top table
There was little movement at the apex of the 2025 ranking. The four Chinese megabanks have entrenched their leading positions, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) remaining the premier brand for the ninth year running.
ICBC, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024, expanded its brand value by 10%, to $79.1 billion. It’s also the foremost brand in commercial banking, a position it has held for more than a decade and placed in the top 10 for investment banking and retail banking.
In the face of the severe and complex external environment over the past year, the Chinese megabank focused on bank-wide services for its five priorities: technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance, according to its interim results briefing in August 2024.
China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China have maintained second, third and fourth spots, all with double-digit growth rates. China Merchants Bank has remained in the global top 10, despite recording only 6% growth in brand value.
The total value of the 71 Chinese brands (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) grew by only 6% in 2024, yet this still contributed $26.7 billion additional value to the ranking. Of the 68 that were in last year’s ranking, only 20 saw an increase in brand value. Taiwan’s Cathay United Bank led the pack, with a 102% rise in valuation, and jumped 67 places to 186th.
While eight of the top 10 Chinese banks increased their brand value, institutions lower down the ranking have seen significant contractions. Chinese names made up 10 out the top 20 fallers by percentage, including Bank of Zhengzhou, Tianjin-based China Bohai Bank and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank.
According to Brown, scale continues to be a key factor in driving the high valuations of Chinese banking brands, as the larger banks continue to expand into international markets, targeting expats and international business facilitation.
“Domestically, brands like CCB and ICBC continue to have excellent customer perceptions, loyalty and reputation. This is aided further by their heavy focus into innovative digital technologies, which is one of the most important drivers of choice among Chinese consumers when considering a bank, more so than in any other region,” Brown says.
The US also saw muted aggregate growth, with the 75 US banking brands (including Puerto Rico) seeing an increase of 8%, to reach $359.7 billion. More than half of the 70 banks that were also in the previous ranking increased their brand value.
Bank of America (BofA) has retained its position as the premier US banking brand for the fifth year in a row. It grew its brand value by 21% in 2024, to $45.0 billion. Maintaining its global position of fifth, it also places in the top 10 brands in retail banking, commercial banking and investment banking.
Chase overtook Wells Fargo to reach sixth place – the only change in the global top 10 positioning. Chase recorded a 23% jump in brand value versus Wells Fargo’s anaemic 1% increase. Citi and J.P. Morgan have retained eighth and ninth spots, respectively.
Europe’s rebound
After several years in the doldrums, the 125 European banking brands appearing in the top 500 have seen an 24% aggregate increase in brand value, the biggest regional rise. This is an impressive turnaround compared to the 2.4% growth seen in last year’s ranking.
Most banks in the region saw solid growth – only 18 of the 118 that appeared in the 2024 ranking recorded a drop in brand value.
In the country table, UK overtook Canada to place third with a 27% increase in total brand value, while Portugal saw the biggest surge (123%) of the top 50 countries, adding two new banks Banco Montepio and Novo Banco.
HSBC remains the biggest banking brand in Europe, a position it has held for more than a decade, and places 11th in the global ranking. The UK bank, which celebrates is 160th anniversary this year, expanded its brand value by 39%, to $27.8 billion. It also places in the top 10 brands in commercial banking and investment banking.
After a six-year hiatus, Deutsche Bank is once again among the top 50 banking brands, moving up 14 places to 48th. It expanded its brand value by 47%, to almost $8.0 billion, the third highest growth rate among the top 50.
According to Tim Alexander, Deutsche Bank’s chief marketing officer, the German institution’s most significant initiative has been the implementation of a comprehensive global brand and purpose framework. “This framework serves as a strategic compass, guiding the realignment of our brand identity. It ensures that all customer touchpoints resonate with our brand values and empowers our employees to deliver exceptional, customer-centric experiences in their daily interactions,” he explains.
A key milestone for Deutsche Bank in 2024 was the recruitment and empowerment of 3,700 colleagues to act as purpose ambassadors.
Digital engagement
Whether an incumbent or challenger brand, banks will need to navigate business and technology transformation, as well as build customer trust in an increasingly digital environment.
In response to the growing importance of digital channels, Alexander says that Deutsche Bank is committed to delivering a “seamless, compelling, and consistent brand experience” across all platforms.
The institution is also leveraging artificial intelligence to streamline the production of creative assets, making client processes faster and more cost effective. “This technological advancement not only enhances our efficiency but also enables us to foster more personalised and relevant dialogues with our customers,” he says.
He is mindful that genuine human experiences are crucial for building trust. “We focus on creating authentic connections through events, branch interactions, and dedicated advisors. By ensuring that we engage with our customers at the right touchpoints, we help them feel personally valued and understood,” says Alexander. “This holistic approach combines the efficiency of digital solutions with the warmth of human interactions, reinforcing our commitment to trust in an increasingly complex digital landscape.”
bunq’s Zwart believes that trust is earned through being reliable, transparent and giving people full control over their money. “Our customers live a globally connected life, so they need a bank they can rely on and that moves with them. So it starts with listening – we are in daily contact with our users and build the experience around their needs, so they can bank with confidence wherever they are,” she says.
According to Le Nel, Revolut champions transparency and security, which is vital for building trust. “As the world becomes increasingly digital, consumers want to know that their money and data is secure. At Revolut, security isn’t just a layer – it’s embedded in our DNA,” he says.
While expansion remains a priority in 2025, Revolut’s focus has shifted toward increasing awareness of its diverse product offerings and creating a stronger bond with its customers, with a strong emphasis on “emotional storytelling”.
While many brands are concerned about losing closeness with customers, as banking interactions are increasingly digital and tech platforms are mopping up traditional banking real estate, Brown sees this as an opportunity to reset priorities. “Banks should look at where not to operate as well as where to operate and transform their position as a utility into an essential trusted advisor,” she says.
She points to moves by brands to address these issues. “Some are focusing on advisory and high-touch services where customers want to spend time getting the right advice and need reliable solutions and advisors. Additionally, many are exploring AI-enabled advisory and client insights built into digital platforms, a potentially exciting avenue,” Brown says. “Using emotive marketing appealing to the human side of money appears to be a successful approach. For example, we are seeing banks utilise sports sponsorships to continue to foster a sense of community engagement and to embed trust in future potential customers.”
