Such magazines as Forbes and Global Finance compile lists of banks that are the most reliable, the largest, and the most client-oriented ones. The lists are based on the data provided by rating agencies such as Fitch or Standard and Poor’s.
Unlike the magazines, the agencies do not give first and second places to banks. Rather, they assign ratings to them based on complex assessment. Any bank whose shares are publicly traded has to be assessed. The ratings are regularly reconsidered.
Speaking of S&P, the highest rating that the agency can assign is ‘AAA’. This shows the experts’ belief that the bank can hardly go bankrupt. The rating ‘AA+’ shows that the bank is going only a little worse and the probability of its bankruptcy is negligible again. Ratings of ‘BBB’ of ‘CCC’ should put you on alert because they signal that the bank is not very reliable.
Below we list the banks that are the best ones in certain parts of the world or in certain respects. Before we go on, however, we would like to point out that you will have to go through serious KYC and AML checks if you want any of the banks mentioned below to take you onboard. You can read about the importance of KYC and AML procedures here.
Zuercher Kantonalbank
Country: Switzerland
Assets: $214.76 billion
S&P rating: AAA
Specialization: provision of banking and investment services to individual and corporate customers.
This is the best bank on our list because it’s the only bank with an ‘AAA’ rating. Zuercher Kantonalbank is one of the largest Swiss banks with branch offices in many countries. It provides services mostly to the residents of Switzerland and the EU. Although the size of Zuercher Kantonalbank’s assets is relatively small compared to other financial institutions, it is the most reliable bank in the world.
Zuercher Kantonalbank was established in 1870 in Zurich canton. Since that time, the bank has been greatly contributing to the development of the cantonal economy and the economy of Switzerland as a whole.
Royal Bank of Canada
Country: Canada
Assets: $ 2.1 trillion
S&P rating: АА-
Specialization: a wide spectrum of financial services for both individual and corporate clients.
This is the most reliable bank in North America. RBC is engaged in retail banking, investment services, asset management, insurance, etc. This is one of the best-known banks in the world.
It was established on July 1, 1864 in the city of Halifax. The bank took an active part in building railroads in the area and with time, it opened branch offices in all Canadian provinces. In 1882, the bank went beyond the country’s borders and opened an office in Bermuda. Since that time, RBC has been extending its geography. Throughout its history, the bank has been using modern technologies. It was one of the first banks to install a computer in 1961. At that time, computers were exotic and had the size of a closet.
JPMorgan Chase
Country: United States of America
Assets: $3.744 trillion.
S&P rating: A+
Specialization: the bank provides all sorts of financial services but it is usually associated with asset management and investment services.
Everyone will have heard of JPMorgan Chase. This is the best bank in the USA. According to Global Finance, it is also the best bank in the private banking sector.
The bank was founded in 1799 in New York as Burr, David and Company. Since that time, it has gone through a series of mergers with other companies and eventually turned into a financial giant known as JPMorgan Chase Co. Throughout its history, the company has played a key role in the mergers and consolidations of many industrial giants, including United States Steel and General Electric, as well as in the construction of the railroad network, the Statue of Liberty, and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was the first bank to start providing services to female clients.
DBS Bank
Country: Singapore
Assets: $ 552.7 billion
S&P rating: АА-
Specialization: retail banking, investment services, asset management, insurance, etc.
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This is the most reliable bank in Asia. In addition, DBS Bank is one of the largest and best-known banks in the region. It appeared in 1968 as a result of a merger of Development Bank of Singapore and Post Office Savings Bank. It was established to support the economic development of Singapore and provide financial services to the people. Soon the bank went beyond the country’s borders and today its expansion continues. DBS Bank is one of the first Asian banks to make use of speech analytics – a technology that allows analyzing the clients’ requests and finding out the most frequent ones.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Country: China
Assets: $ 6.118 trillion
S&P rating: A
Specialization: a wide spectrum of services for individual clients (hundreds of millions of people) as well as corporate clients.
This is the largest bank in the world that controls one fifth of the Chinese banking system.
ICBC was founded in 1984 and in 1991, it was granted permission to open a branch office in New York. In 2008, the bank signed the so-called ‘Equator Principles’, an international set of recommendations for financial institutions on environmental and social risk management in project finance. ICBC plays a key role in the Chinese global investment program known as ‘One Belt One Road’. In addition, the bank is one of the largest employers in China: around 450,000 people work there.
First Abu Dhabi Bank
Country: United Arab Emirates
Assets: $ 302.25 billion
S&P rating: АА-
Specialization: retail banking, investment services.
This is the best bank in the Middle East. In addition, it is the largest bank in the UAE and one of the largest banks in the Middle East and North Africa.
It would be interesting to note that First Abu Dhabi Bank is the youngest financial institution on our list. It appeared in 2017 as a result of a merger of two large banks – First Gulf Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. This was one of the most impressive mergers in the financial history of the region. Currently, the bank is actively expanding abroad.
BNP Paribas
Country: France
Assets: $ 2.89 trillion
S&P rating: A+
Specialization: international transactions.
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This is the best bank in the world for international transactions. In the globalized world of today, the opportunity to make international money transfers is critically important and BNP Paribas serves this purpose very well.
Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) was established to support the economy of Paris trying to overcome the consequences of the Revolution. By the 1850s, the situation seemed to stabilize and the bank was involved in active financial operations but the end of the 19th century brought some hard times. This is when a new bank with an old name was created. The new bank inherited the international network of branch offices and the management started to pay more attention to domestic financial operations.
Banking at any of the financial institutions mentioned above is a wonderful experience.
