China's banks out-branded by internet rivals

Branding for banks in China has taken on new urgency, the Financial Times reports. The banking sector has opened up, and choice has proliferated for consumers. Better service fashioned new household names, mainly for the internet companies that have experimented in finance. The 2017 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking shows China’s top four state-owned banks losing ground in 2017. Bank of China, the oldest and most international of the four, tumbled 23 rankings to 94th, while Agricultural Bank of China fell 10 places to 72nd. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, one of the world’s largest banks by market capitalization, fell one place to 28th. By comparison, Tencent, which launched one of China’s first privately owned banks in 2014, is ranked eighth in global brand recognition, climbing three places in 2017 and trumping the likes of IBM. Alibaba, an e-commerce company that now runs the world’s largest money market fund, rose four places to 14th.