Big Four (banking)

The Big Four is the colloquial name given to the four main banks in several countries where the banking industry is dominated by just four institutions and where the phrase has thus gained relevance. Some countries include more or fewer institutions in such rankings, leading to other names such as Big Three, Big Five, or Big Six.

International use

Internationally, the term "Big Four Banks" has traditionally referred to the following central banks:

Official name	Short-form name	Year of inception
Bank of England	BOE	1694
Federal Reserve (United States)	The Fed	1913
Bank of Japan	BOJ	1882
European Central Bank	ECB	1998

Australia

In Australia, the "big four banks" refers to the four largest banks that have historically dominated Australia's banking industry in terms of market share, revenue, and total assets. The "big four banks" of Australia are:

Official name	Short-form name	Year of inception
ANZ Bank	ANZ	1835
Commonwealth Bank	CommBank or CBA	1911
National Australia Bank	NAB	1858
Westpac	WBC	1817

A longstanding policy of the federal government in Australia has been to maintain this status quo, called the four pillars policy. The policy has been maintained through the Global Recession of 2008–09, as Westpac acquired St George Bank and the Commonwealth Bank acquired Bankwest, reinforcing the special status of the "big four".

Austria

The "Big Four" banks of Austria are:

Erste Bank / Sparkasse*
UniCredit Bank Austria
Raiffeisen Bankengruppe*
BAWAG P.S.K.
separate legal entities operating under a common brand

Belgium

The big four banks of Belgium are a result of national and international mergers in the early 90s.

KBC Bank, including its CBC Banque subsidiary in the French Community of Belgium and KBC Brussels brand in the Brussels-Capital Region
Belfius, government-owned bank
BNP Paribas Fortis, subsidiary of BNP Paribas
ING Bank, subsidiary of the ING Group

Brazil

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Five" banks In Brazil :

Rank	Bank	Total assets	Ownership	Year of incorporation
1	Itaú Unibanco	555.72	Private	2008
2	Banco do Brasil	447.72	State-owned	1808
3	Banco Bradesco	394.76	Private	1943
4	Caixa Econômica Federal	377.29	State-owned	1861
5	Santander Brasil	237.66	Private	1982

Cambodia

According to the National Bank of Cambodia, the top three largest banks in Cambodia dominates 39.1% of the overall banking assets as of 2020. These banks are:

Canadia Bank
ACLEDA Bank
Advanced Bank of Asia

Canada

There are six banks dominating the Canadian banking sector. Five of these six banks make up what is known as the "Big Five".

Official name	Short-form name	Year of inception
Royal Bank of Canada	RBC	1864
Toronto-Dominion Bank	TD	1955
Scotiabank	BNS	1832
Bank of Montreal	BMO	1817
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce	CIBC	1961
National Bank of Canada	NBC	1928

China

In the People's Republic of China, the "Big Four" banks are:

Official name	Short-form name	Chinese name	Year of inception
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	ICBC	中国工商银行	1984
Bank of China	BOC	中国银行	1912
China Construction Bank	CCB	中国建设银行	1954
Agricultural Bank of China	ABC / AgBank	中国农业银行	1951

In addition to the Big Four banks in China, there are numerous banks in China which would have larger Tier 1 capital than the Big Four banks of other developed countries, such as:

Official name	Short-form name	Chinese name	Year of inception
Bank of Communications	BOCOM / BankComm	交通银行	1908
China Merchants Bank	CMB	招商银行	1987
Postal Savings Bank of China	PSBC	中国邮政储蓄银行	2007
Industrial Bank (China)	CIB	兴业银行	1988
China CITIC Bank	CNCB	中信银行	1987
Shanghai Pudong Development Bank	SPDB	上海浦东发展银行	1992
China Minsheng Bank	CMBC	中国民生银行	1996
Ping An Bank	PAB	平安银行	1987
Hua Xia Bank	HXB	华夏银行	1992

Historically, during the 1920s, the term "Big Four" applied to the Four Northern Banks of the Republic of China. These were the Yien Yieh Commercial Bank, the Kincheng Banking Corporation, the Continental Bank and The China & South Sea Bank. They were contrasted with the Three Southern Banks of Southern China.
By 1949, the "Big Four" banks were the Bank of China, the Bank of Communications, the Central Bank of China, and the Farmers Bank of China. All four were state-owned. Together with the Central Trust of China, Postal Savings and Remittance Bureau of China, and Central Cooperative Treasury of China, these banks were called the "four banks, two bureaus, one treasury".

Colombia

In Colombia, the ten biggest banking service networks are:

Name	Description	Year	Net assets
Banco de Bogotá	Largest private bank	2017	3,600
Bancolombia	Private bank	2017	2,600
Banco Davivienda	Private bank	2017	1,204
Banco de Occidente Credencial	Private bank	2017	933
BBVA Colombia	Private bank	2017	346
	State-owned bank	2017	339
Banco Colpatria	Private bank	2017	254
	Private bank	2017	238
Citibank Colombia	Private bank	2017	172
	Private bank	2017	156

Czech Republic

In Czech Republic, the "big three" are:

Česká spořitelna, subsidiary of Erste Group
Československá obchodní banka, subsidiary of KBC Bank
Komerční banka, subsidiary of Société Générale

Estonia

Finland

France

According to S&P Global in 2024, the 'Big Six' major banking groups in France are:

Bank	Assets	Year of incorporation
BNP Paribas	2,594.14	2000
Crédit Agricole	2,476.43	1894
Société Générale	1,553.81	1864
BPCE Group	1,544.14	2009
Crédit Mutuel	1,142.19	1882
La Banque postale	738.15	2006

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Bank	Chinese name	Year of incorporation
HSBC (Hong Kong)	香港上海滙豐銀行	1865
Bank of China (Hong Kong)	中國銀行	2001
Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong)	渣打銀行	1859
Hang Seng Bank	恒生銀行	1933

HSBC Hong Kong, Standard Chartered Bank, and Bank of China are the three note-issuing banks; Hang Seng and HSBC Hong Kong are both under the common ownership of London-based HSBC Holdings plc. According to Global Retail Banking Cross-sell conducted by RFi group in 2015, HSBC, Bank of China, and Hang Seng Bank were the top 3 most popular banks in Hong Kong.

India

In India the largest banks, based on total market capitalization, are:
;Big Four private banks in India

;Big Four public sector banks in India

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the four largest bank by total asset, revenue, and market capitalization consists of 3 government-owned bank and 1 private bank. As of 2025, the four largest banks by market capitalization are:

Official name	Short-form name	Year of inception
Bank Central Asia	BCA	1957
Bank Rakyat Indonesia	BRI	1895
Bank Mandiri	BMRI	1998
Bank Negara Indonesia	BNI	1946

BRI, Bank Mandiri, and BNI are all controlled by the central government as state-owned enterprises as a part of Danantara Indonesia.

Ireland

In Ireland, the term "big four" applies to the four largest banks by market capitalisation.

Bank of Ireland
Allied Irish Banks
Permanent TSB
Ulster Bank – a wholly owned subsidiary of NatWest Group, which withdrew from the Republic of Ireland market in 2023.

Israel

In Israel, the term "big five" is used instead of "big four".

Bank	Hebrew name	Year of incorporation
Bank Leumi	בנק לאומי	1902
Bank Hapoalim	בנק הפועלים	1921
Israel Discount Bank	בנק דיסקונט לישראל	1935
Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot	בנק מזרחי טפחות	1923
First International Bank of Israel	הבנק הבינלאומי	1970

Italy

According to S&P Global in 2024, the 'Big Five' major banking groups in Italy are:

Bank	Assets	Year of incorporation
Intesa Sanpaolo	965.13	2007
UniCredit	789.24	1998
Banco BPM	202.13	2017
BPER Banca	142.13	1867
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena	122.61	1472

Japan

In Japan, the term "big three" is used instead of "big four". The related term city bank is also sometimes used for these banks. The "big three" are:

Financial group	Bank	Japanese name	Year of incorporation
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group	MUFG Bank	三菱UFJ銀行	2005
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group	Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation	三井住友銀行	2002
Mizuho Financial Group	Mizuho Bank	みずほ銀行	2000

These banks are all listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts; MUFG and SMBC Group are both additionally listed in the Nagoya Stock Exchange and serve as the financial arms of their respective namesake keiretsu.

Kenya

Latvia

According to a consumer survey conducted in 2019, the "big four" retail banks in Latvia are:

Lebanon

In Lebanon, where the banks have retained their banking secrecy laws since 1956, which is prevalent in the whole MENA region, and while adopting international measures to fight money laundering, the "big four" banks consist of:

Furthermore, as of September 2016, there are more than 51 banks in Lebanon, one of the smallest countries in the Middle East, a fact that has always made investors from the Arab countries, especially the GCC petrodollar in addition to the European and world investors, to place their funds in the Lebanese banks.

Luxembourg

The "big four" full-service banks in Luxembourg are:

Banque et Caisse d'Épargne de l'État, state owned bank
Banque Internationale à Luxembourg,
BGL BNP Paribas
ING Luxembourg

There are bigger banks in Luxembourg, but these only deliver a limited number of services such as investment banking, private banking, or corporate banking only. Luxembourg is a financial center.

Macau

In Macau, the four major banks are:

Bank of China, Macau Branch
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau)
Tai Fung Bank
Luso International Banking

Malaysia

According to Central Bank of Malaysia, the 5 largest Malaysian banks by assets size are:

Bank name	Year of inception
Maybank	1960
CIMB	2006
Public Bank	1966
RHB Bank	1997
Hong Leong Bank	1965

Mexico

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Four" banks in Mexico :

Bank	Total assets	Ownership	Year of incorporation
BBVA México	197.29	Private by BBVA	1932
Banorte	134.56	Private	1899
Santander México	108.40	Private by Banco Santander	1932 / 1997
Banamex	93.92	Private by Citibank	1884

Myanmar

According to Asia Times, the four largest banks in Myanmar are:

Netherlands

The "big four" banks in the Netherlands by market concentration are:

Official name	Year of inception
ING Group	1991
Rabobank	1898
ABN AMRO	1991
de Volksbank	1817

The market leader for the Netherlands, ING Group, is one of the world's largest multinational banking and financial service corporations, with products and services reaching over 41 countries worldwide.

New Zealand

New Zealand is Australia's closest neighbour, with very close cultural and economic ties. The big four Australian banks also dominate the banking sector in New Zealand, through subsidiaries:

ANZ Bank New Zealand, a subsidiary of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
ASB Bank, formerly Auckland Savings Bank, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Bank of New Zealand, a subsidiary of the National Australia Bank
Westpac New Zealand, formerly WestpacTrust, after a merger with Trust Bank, a subsidiary of Westpac Banking Corporation

Together they hold over 90% of gross loans and advances in New Zealand as well as close to 90% of all mortgages.
These four NZ subsidiaries are massively profitable and sometimes even outperform the Australian parent companies. The extent to which they dominate the banking sector can be seen in profits: In the 2012/2013 financial year, the largest of the Big Banks, ANZ New Zealand, made a profit of NZ$1.37 billion. The smallest, BNZ, made a profit of NZ$695 million. State-owned Kiwibank, community trust-owned TSB Bank, SBS Bank and Heartland Bank, the next four largest banks by profit, made NZ$97 million, NZ$73.5 million, NZ$14 million and NZ$7 million respectively. Thus, the profit of New Zealand's next four largest banks is equal to less than 30% of the smallest of the Big Four, BNZ.

Nigeria

The term "Big Five" is used instead of four, with five banks dominating the Nigerian banking world. In 2011, these top five banks had a combined balance sheet, including contingents, of 12.9 trillion naira, 33 percent higher than the prior year.

North Macedonia

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the three largest banks in North Macedonia dominate 60% of the banking market share.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, six banks have a market cap of more than $1 billion, three of which are designated by the State Bank of Pakistan as Domestic Systemically Important Banks

Bank	Market Cap	Year of Incorporation	D-SIB?
United Bank Limited	1011	1959	Yes
Meezan Bank	827	1997	No
Bank Alfalah	170	1997	No
National Bank of Pakistan	461	1949	Yes
Habib Bank	441	1941	Yes
MCB Bank	433	1947	No

Panama

Banco General
Banistmo
Banco Nacional
BAC Credomatic

Peru

In Peru the "big four" are:

Philippines

The term "Big Four" is not explicitly used in the Philippines. The following are the four largest banks in the country in terms of total assets as of December 2024:

Romania

The Romanian banking system has almost 40 banks, most detained by local financial vehicles and some subsidiaries of foreign banks. The big four are as follows.

Banca Comercială Română, now part of the Erste Group
Banca Transilvania, the biggest bank detained by private investors with domestic capital
BRD – Groupe Société Générale, formerly known as Romanian Bank for Development
CEC Bank, the state-owned bank, formerly known as Casa de Economii și Consemnațiuni

Other major banks are Raiffeisen Bank, Unicredit Bank, and the ING Bank of Holland subsidiary.

Russia

The largest banks by operations and assets in Russia:

Bank	Russian name	Year of incorporation
Sberbank	Сбербанк	1841
VTB Bank	Банк ВТБ	1990
Alfa-Bank	Альфа-Банк	1990
Russian Agricultural Bank	Россельхозбанк	2000
Gazprombank	Газпромбанк	1990
Otkritie FC Bank	Банк «ФК Открытие»	1992

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, the "Big Five" are:

Official name	Arabic name	Year of inception
Saudi National Bank	البنك الوطني السعودي	1953
Al Rajhi Bank	مصرف الراجحي	1957
Riyad Bank	بنك الرياض	1957
Saudi Awwal Bank	البنك السعودي الأول	1978
Banque Saudi Fransi	بنك سعودي فرنسي	1977

Singapore

According to S&P Global in 2024, the "Big Three" banks in Singapore are:

Bank	Assets	Subsidiary bank	Year of incorporation
DBS Bank	461.0	POSB Bank	1968, 1877
OCBC Bank	435.1	Bank of Singapore	1932
United Overseas Bank	396.4		1935

South Africa

In South Africa, the "big four" in order of value of assets are:

FirstRand Bank, operators of First National Bank.
Standard Bank
Absa Group Limited, majority owned by Barclays between 2005 and early 2018
Nedbank, minority-owned by Old Mutual.

South Korea

In South Korea, the "Big Six" are:

Financial group	Bank	Korean name	Year of inception
KB Financial Group	Kookmin Bank	국민은행	1963
Shinhan Financial Group	Shinhan Bank	신한은행	1982
Hana Financial Group	Hana Bank	하나은행	1967
Woori Financial Group	Woori Bank	우리은행	2002
Industrial Bank of Korea		기업은행	1961
Nonghyup Bank		NH농협은행	2012

Spain

As of September 2021, the "big four" in Spain are:

Official name	Short-form name	Year of inception
Banco Santander	Santander	1857
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria	BBVA	1857
Caixabank	Caixabank	2011
Banco Sabadell	Sabadell	1881

Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, the leading banks are, as of 2020

Sweden

In Sweden the "big four" are:

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Big Four are as follows:

Official name	Year of inception
UBS	1998
Raiffeisen Bank	1899
Zurich Cantonal Bank	1870
PostFinance	1906

Taiwan

In Taiwan, the seven "systemic banks" are:

Bank	Chinese name	Year of incorporation
CTBC Bank	中國信託商業銀行	1966
Bank of Taiwan	臺灣銀行	1946
Mega International Commercial Bank	兆豐國際商業銀行	1992
Taipei Fubon Bank	台北富邦銀行	1963
Taiwan Cooperative Bank	臺灣合作金庫銀行	1923
First Commercial Bank	第一商業銀行	1899
Cathay United Bank	國泰世華商業銀行	1975

Thailand

The "Big Six" banks in Thailand are as follows:

Bank	Acronym	Thai name	Year of incorporation
Siam Commercial Bank	SCB	ธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์	1906
Kasikornbank	KBank	ธนาคารกสิกรไทย	1945
Krungthai Bank	KTB	ธนาคารกรุงไทย	1966
Bangkok Bank	BBL	ธนาคารกรุงเทพ	1944
TMBThanachart Bank	TTB	ธนาคารทหารไทยธนชาต	1957
Bank of Ayudhya	BAY	ธนาคารกรุงศรีอยุธยา	1945

Before the Siamese Revolution, the banking system was controlled by foreign powers, particularly the "big four" European banks.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in 1888
The Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China in 1894
Banque de l'Indochine in 1897
Mercantile Bank of India in 1923

Turkey

In 2021, the top three largest state-owned banks held over 37.1% of the market share, while Turkey's top four largest foreign-owned banks dominate 22.9% of the overall market share.

State-owned banks

Privately-owned banks

United Arab Emirates

Based on the total assets of listed banks at the end of 2017, big five banks in United Arab Emirates are:

United Kingdom

England and Wales and UK as a whole

In relation to England and Wales and the United Kingdom as a whole, the phrase "big four" is used to refer to the four largest High Street retail banking groups:

Official name	Year of inception
HSBC UK	1865
Barclays UK	1690
Lloyds Bank	1765
NatWest Group	1968

Scotland

In relation to Scotland, the phrase "big four" is used to refer to the four largest banking groups:

Northern Ireland

In relation to Northern Ireland, the phrase "big four" is used to refer to the four largest banking groups:

Historical use

Until 1970, the phrase "big five" was used to refer to the five largest UK clearing banks, which in England and Wales were:

After the merger of Westminster Bank, National Provincial Bank and District Bank to form National Westminster Bank in 1970, the term "big four" came into use instead.

United States

In the United States, the "big four" banks hold about 45% of all U.S. customer deposits, and each have assets of roughly $1.7 trillion U.S. dollars. As of 2023, they have combined assets of more than $9.2 trillion. The banks are, in order of size:
Regardless of the jurisdiction of charter, all these banks are legally subsidiaries of Delaware-chartered bank holding companies.
From a retail banking perspective, U.S. Bank and PNC Bank both have significantly more branches than Citibank, the retail banking arm of Citigroup. However, Citigroup still has significantly more assets than U.S. Bancorp and PNC Financial Services.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the four major banking groups are:

As of the start of 2024, the big four held VNĐ13.5 quadrillion worth of public deposits, equivalent to 50% of all bank deposits nationwide. Meanwhile, during the annual year 2023, these banks represented 42% of the outstanding loans that were issued over this period nationwide, a total of VNĐ685 trillion.