Ranking Banking Brands: Who's on Top in 2010?

Bancography, a financial services consulting firm, released its 2010 rankings for its Bancography Brand Value Index (BBVI), a quantitative ranking of the brand strength of all US banks, thrifts and credit unions. The firm developed the system so that it could assist financial institutions with evaluating the strength of their brands. The index calculates the value of an institution’s brand and ranks that institution comparatively among its peers.

In determining a brand’s value, Bancography quantifies the proportion of each institution’s long-term value that is attributable to the intangible factors that constitute an institution’s brand. These factors include the institution’s reputation, service quality, image and market awareness. The brand value index identifies institutions that produce financial results beyond what their capital base, market conditions and competitive environments would predict. The calculations reward institutions that display consistently strong earnings and a reasonable cost of funds.

Only three of 2009’s leaders returned to the top 10, a reflection of the economy’s recent volatility. Similarly mirroring the broader economy, five banks based in Texas — a state that has weathered the recession better than nearly any other — reached the top 10 in the mid-sized tier.

“The 2010 BBVI reflects the fluid financial services landscape as providers continue to confront the aftermath of the recession,” says John Mathes, Director/Bancography. Banks that pay homage to the pillars of sound brand strategy using clear differentiation and consistency of message reap the benefit at their competitors’ expense.”

Oddly some of the bank brands most often celebrated by industry experts — banks like Umpqua and ING DIRECT — are nowhere to be found in Bancography’s rankings.

Do you want to know where your bank ranks? Easy. Just contact Bancography. “We will supply at no cost any institution’s ranking if they contact us,” promises Mathes.

“But to make the rankings relevant as to how well an institution is doing in any given market, they would need to know their competitors’ index,” continues Mathes. “So we sell a product called ‘Market Snapshot’ that supplies all community bank and credit union rankings by DMA. The Snapshot also contains helpful observations and insights from that DMA.”

This is the third year Bancography has published its bank brand index. You can find the data for 2008 and 2009 on Bancography’s website. The BBVI includes parallel rankings for credit unions.

Banks: More than $30 billion in assets (23 total)

New banks sit atop the BBVI for the first time in two years. Northern Trust (IL) leads the nation’s largest institutions (banks with assets of at least $30 billion), followed by U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BB&T.

In the 2009 BBVI, U.S. Bank led the $30B+ banks, with Wells Fargo second. Other than Bank of America, which slipped to 11th place, all $30B+ banks in 2009’s top 10 retained their top-10 status. Fifth Third entered the top 10 for the first time, ranking sixth. In the mid-sized tier, Intrust jumped six spots to end Woodforest’s two-year reign; however, Woodforest still shows strong in the second position.

2010 Rank			2009 Rank
1	Northern Trust	IL	3
2	US Bank	MN	1
3	Wells Fargo	MN	2
4	JPMorgan Chase	NY	5
5	BB&T	NC	6
6	Fifth Third	OH	11
7	MT&T	NY	8
8	Comerica	TX	10
9	PNC	PA	4
10	Union Bank	CA	9

Banks: $2-$30 billion in assets (179 total)

For two years Woodforest National Bank (TX) ranked first among the mid-sized institutions (assets $2B – $30B), but Intrust Bank (KS) unseats Woodforest in 2010, relegating Woodforest to the second position. Iberiabank reached the top 10 for the first time.

2010 Rank			2009 Rank
1	Intrust Bank	KS	7
2	Woodforest National Bank	TX	1
3	Amarillo National Bank	TX	4
4	Westamerica Bank	CA	12
5	Iberiabank	LA	24
6	First United Bank & Trust	OK	16
7	American State Bank	TX	29
8	Broadway National Bank	TX	78*
9	The Frost National Bank	TX	19
10	BancFirst	OK	23
11	First-Citizens Bank & Trust	NC	45
12	Commerce Bank	MO	15
13	Pinnacle Bank	NE	21
14	First Citizens Bank	SC	27
15	First Financial Bank	OH	35
16	City National Bank	WV	8
17	First Interstate Bank	MT	11
18	Great Southern Bank	MO	33
19	BankPlus	MS	40
20	Union Bank & Trust	NE	31
	* moved up from 500M-2B

Banks: $500 million – $2 billion in assets (770 total)

Leading brands among the smaller banks ($500M – $2B in assets) include First National Bank Texas (TX), two banks from Colorado’s FirstBank holding company, Citizens Security Bank (OK), as well as four other Texas banks. First State Bank (GA) represents the only top-20 institution in this asset tier that is domiciled east of the Mississippi River.

2010 Rank			2009 Rank
1	First National Bank	TX	4
2	FirstBank	CO	13
3	FirstBank of Tech Center	CO	102*
4	Citizens Security Bank & Trust	OK	21
5	Bank of the West	TX	5
6	Emprise Bank	KS	24
7	First Command Bank	TX	16
8	Western National Bank	TX	3
9	First State Bank & Trust	GA	41
10	American Bank	TX	15
11	The Bank of Castile	NY	26
12	Jefferson Bank	TX	22
13	Stock Yards Bank & Trust	KY	45
14	Empire Bank	MO	46
15	Habib American Bank	NY	173
16	The Canandaigua National Bank	NY	53
17	North Community Bank	IL	144*
18	Boone County National Bank	MO	28
19	First Financial Bank	TX	19
20	Cambridge Trust Company	MA	48
	*moved up from <500M

Banks: Less than $500 million in assets (4,926 total)

Texas also leads the sub-$500M asset tier. The East Texas National Bank of Palestine (TX), First
National Bank of La Grange (IL) and Stockmens National Bank in Cotulla (TX) lead the group, with two more Texas institutions placing in the top 10. Again, the Southwest, Midwest and West dominate, as only four of the top 20 banks hail from other regions.

2010 Rank			2009 Rank
1	The East Texas National Bank	TX	15
2	First National Bank	IL	23
3	Stockmens National Bank	TX	24
4	FirstBank	CO	5,517
5	Centinel Bank	NM	14
6	Valley Bank	NM	8
7	Oklahoma State Bank	OK	32
8	American State Bank & Trust	ND	68
9	First Financial Bank	TX	114
10	The First National Bank of Trinity	TX	35
11	Community Bank of Louisiana	LA	65
12	The Bank of Baker	MT	2
13	Charter Bank	TX	5,765
14	Central Bank of Lake of the Ozarks	MO	9*
15	First American Bank	OK	50
16	Minster Bank	OH	400
17	Western National Bank	MN	2,102
18	First Texas Bank	TX	206
19	People’s Bank of Seneca	MO	220
20	The Third National Bank of Sedalia	MO	182
	*moved down from 500m-2B