Equity Group, East, and Central Africa’s largest financial services Group, has been named the 5th strongest banking brand in the world.
The Group is the only new entrant among the top ten leading banking brands and has entered the arena with an impressive Brand Strength Index (BSI) of 90.8 compared to the strongest banking brand that scored a BSI index of 94.
The Group tied with the top four banking brands with a similar brand ranking score of AAA+, the highest rating that a brand can attain.
Brand Strength Index (BSI) is calculated by assessing a brand’s marketing investment, Stakeholder Equity and Business Performance. Based on the BSI, a brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating of up to AAA+, similar to a credit rating.
According to the Brand Finance Banking 500 2022 Annual Report that was released this week, Equity Group is among the few banks from smaller and emerging markets to join a total of 30 new entrants into the top 500 banking brands.
While Equity was ranked position 338 overall among the top 500 banking brands, the report shows that it is not only a new entrant, but also the leading bank in Sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa, in the league.
The report quotes David Haigh, the Chairman and CEO of Brand Finance, “As banks continue to battle the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of a solid brand is more significant than ever.
Banking products are becoming commoditised, and banks will need to continue differentiating themselves from other competitors in the market through the use of their brand, particularly in the face of an emerging threat from challenger brands and decentralised finance in the future.”
Speaking about the achievement, Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO said, “The ranking of Equity as the 5th strongest banking brand in the world is a strong validation of our twin engine business model that has positioned Equity as a social banking brand, driven by our vision of championing the social economic prosperity of the people of Africa.”
Dr. Mwangi noted that against a background of the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequent disruption of global economic activities with the resultant social impacts, Equity Group Holdings had demonstrated resilience in execution of an offensive and defensive strategy, a versatile business model, leadership agility, and innovation and diversification all aimed at supporting customers and the community to survive, recover and thrive post the pandemic.
“It is a moment to celebrate Africa’s rise and showcase Africa’s capacity to develop its own local and regional manufacturing and supply chains to replace the broken global supply chains as a result of the COVID-19. The commitment to digitisation of our services continues to drive the Group’s growth in both customer satisfaction and as the leader in Kenya’s global financial sector.
"The Bank’s investment in digital banking has resulted in the digital bank handling 97% of all transactions with mobile channels processing 90% of digital transactions. This approach has given our customers the freedom, choice and control to access banking services anytime anywhere and has taken convenience and customer experience to a different level,” said Dr. Mwangi.
He further added, “As a result, we have seen mobile, internet and e-commerce becoming the preferred channels of choice for payment processing and lifestyle fulfillment with 74% of customers opting for cashless transactions.”
Dr. Mwangi further noted that, “We have proven that a shared value business model is both purposeful and profitable. Doing well can go hand in hand with doing good. Our corporate social arm, the Equity Group Foundation has scaled its operations to reach a spend of USD $513 million in social investment programs, reaching 37,000 secondary school Wings to Fly scholarships; 17,000 University scholarships under the Equity Leadership Program; 3,000 TVET scholarships and nearly 700 Global university scholarships; while 54 Equity Afia clinics are now operational with 572,707 unique patients visits. To support global initiatives which combat climate change, Equity has planted 7.1 million trees and financed and distributed 303,000 clean energy products.”
Equity Group was the most valuable bank in the Nairobi Securities Exchange with a market capitalisation of Kshs 199.9Billion as of 31st December incorporating a brand premium driven by superior customer experience, innovation and a technology enabled business model which drove earnings and potential long-term benefits.
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