South Africa’s top banks among investors

FNB is the preferred bank for personal and business banking among South African retail and institutional investors, with Standard Bank second and Absa third.

Discovery Bank is the preferred new digital bank, significantly outperforming TymeBank and Bank Zero.

These were some of the findings in Daily Investor’s 2023 South African Investor Report, based on responses from 1,443 retail and institutional investors.

The survey was conducted in July 2023, and most respondents were high-income earners who actively invested.

As part of the survey, South African investors were asked which bank they prefer for their personal finances.

FNB topped the list, with 29% of respondents selecting it. Standard Bank was second, with 22% of people picking it as their preferred personal bank, followed by Absa at 18%.

Nedbank and Capitec completed the top five, with 14% and 10% of respondents, respectively, selecting them as their preferred bank.

The survey results confirmed that the big five banks have excellent brand awareness and new challenger banks will have to work hard to win market share.

Business banking

FNB is the preferred business bank, with 40% of respondents saying it provides the best business banking service.

Standard Bank was second, with 20% of business owners and company representatives saying it offers the best service levels.

Nedbank was third at 14%, followed by Absa at 13%, Investec at 9%, and Capitec at 4%.

The business banks rankings aligned with the personal banks list. However, FNB enjoyed a bigger lead in the business category, and Nedbank performed better than Absa.

Digital banking

Discovery Bank is the preferred new digital bank, with 60% of respondents selecting it over TymeBank and Bank Zero.

These new challenger banks have a tough task to compete against the big five. However, Discovery Bank, TymeBank, and Bank Zero are slowly gaining traction in the market.

Discovery Bank is particularly successful in the high-end retail market. It has launched an aggressive marketing campaign around its launch, which is paying off.

Discovery Bank effectively communicates its shared-value model to South Africans, which is why they select it over the other options.