Which banks have the strongest brands?

• Position: Marketing News

Among the nation's largest financial services institutions (with assets of at least $30 billion), Wells Fargo & Co. holds the most powerful brand, followed by U.S. Bank, Northern Trust, Union Bank, and PNC.

These findings were released in the 2008 Bancography Brand Value Index, a ranking of all U.S. bank and credit union brands. The index, which also includes categorical rankings by asset size, market area and institution type, ranks brands by the premium they contribute to each financial institution's underlying tangible value.

Leading brands in the mid-sized institution category (banks with assets between $2 billion and $30 billion) include Woodforest National Bank (Texas), Westamerica Bank (Calif.), City National Bank (Calif.), City National Bank of West Virginia and Nevada State Bank (note the two City National Banks are separate, unrelated institutions).

In calculating brand value, Bancography quantified 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.

Smaller banks with leading brands include First National Bank of Texas, Armed Forces Bank (Kan.), and The Citizens Bank (N.M).

The leading brands show consistently strong earnings performance and the ability to grow deposits without paying above-market rates. John Mathes, the firm's director of brand strategy notes, "In the banking industry, product offerings are often very similar among competitors, so it is paramount for financial institutions to build differentiating brands."

Bancography, based in Birmingham, Ala., provides consulting services and software tools to financial institutions in support of their branch, research, product...