Mizuho Bank

Parent Company: Mizuho Financial Group Inc

Brand value: $3,771 million

Headquarter city: Tokyo

Industry: Banks

Year formed: 2002

Mizuho is a retail and corporate banking brand that traces its history back to the establishment of Dai-ichi bank in 1973; in its current incarnation, Mizuho was formed in 2002 with the merger of Fuji Bank, Dai Ichi Kangyo, and the Industial Bank of Japan – all iconic institutions in 20th Century Japan. Fittingly, the Mizuho name refers to an ancient term for “golden ears of rice,” and was chosen because that same term was used to describe Japan in the classic text Nihon Sochi. Today, Mizuho is one of three Japanese “megabanks.” The brand’s slogan is, “One Mizuho Future,” and its purpose is to create, “A comprehensive financial group that is trusted by customers, contributing to the development of Japan and Asia and the world." On the consumer side of its business, the company has sought to grow through a focus on fintech; in the past year Mizuho has partnered with messenger app Line on a new banking service and launched a QR code–based smartphone payment service app called J–Coin Pay. It is also one of the few Japanese banks with branches in every prefecture nationwide. On the corporate side, it has recently launched an offering called Mizuho Eco Finance that helps clients to organize and evaluate their sustainability initiatives. Mizuho Financial Group is listed on the Tokyo and New York Stock Exchanges.