South Africa’s Capitec Bank has been rated the best bank in the world for the second successive year in the Lafferty Group’s Global Bank Quality Benchmark.

Providing an independent star-rating of the world’s 100 largest quoted banks across 32 countries, the announcement comes despite South Africa’s downgraded credit rating.

Capitec Bank CEO Gerrie Fourie says the bank is proud and thankful to receive the rating, which confirms it’s on the right track to build the best retail bank in the world. “We value this recognition because it’s based on information available in the public domain and represents an objective view of our company, while validating the trust that our clients put in the Capitec Brand,” he says. “The management team thank our employees for their diligent pursuit to offer our clients simple, affordable and transparent banking that helps them manage their money better. For us, this is just the start of the journey.”

The Lafferty Group’s ratings are based on information available in the public domain such as each bank’s business model, assessed in terms of factors like strategy, culture and management. Capitec Bank is the only bank in the world to achieve five stars – beating other global leaders such as HSBC, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase and local contenders Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and FirstRand.

Collectively, SA’s major banks have the highest average of any country. Founder and Chairman Michael Lafferty puts this down to the exceptional calibre of South African management, which allows banks to surpass the global standard. “The world’s best banks are not the giant universal banks or those banks that try to mimic them, but those that are focused – taking a longer-term view that is in the best interests of their customers,” says Lafferty. “Capitec is focused. That’s the first thing. It’s clearly run to a high ethical and business standard. It has the concept of one product, which is the essence of its relationship with its customers.”