In an Australian first, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has been placed inside the world’s top 100 brands, according to Millward Brown’s annual BrandZ list.

The list measures brand value based on a range of metrics drawn from a combination of publically available financials and consumer shopping data. The study also gives a strong weighting to customer loyalty.

Now in its seventh year, the “Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” study rated CBA’s brand value at US$13.1 billion, placing it 60th on the list. Apple again ranked in first place with a brand value of US$182 billion. Other financial brands to make the top 100 include ICBC (13th), Visa (15th), HSBC (31st) and Standard Chartered (79th).

Technology companies also feature heavily in the list, with 31 of the top 100 companies being IT or telecommunications providers. Millward Brown Australian spokesperson, Johnny Panagiotidis, said this trend can be attributed to an appetite for innovation and simplicity amongst customers, which technology enables. Panagiotidis attributed much of CBA’s success to its own technology strategy.

Since taking on the role of CBA CEO in 2011, Ian Narev has focused heavily on technology investment, overhauling its back-end systems and developing Kaching, a payments application that allows instant transfer of cash via mobile platforms.

This technology vision has resounded strongly with customers. Both the Kaching and Commbank applications on the Apple App stores currently have user ratings of 3.5/ 5. “CBA has led a lot of initiatives in consumer experiences recently,” Panagiotidis said. “That, combined with it being the biggest financial services company in Australia has given it a very visible brand.”

Related links:
Technology core to Narev’s Bank of the Future