Uncover the top banks leading in consideration and recommendation, the fastest climbers, and the brands winning Gen Z
Key insights
- Consideration ranking is highly stable at the top: Emirates NBD, ADCB and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) hold the top 3 spots for a second year.
- Movement is selective, not market-wide: FAB, RAK BANK and Mashreq Bank post the largest gains
- Gen Z does not overturn the ranking, but it changes the texture: the same 3 banks lead among younger adults, while Mashreq Neo and Sharjah Islamic Bank score slightly higher among Gen Z than among UAE adults overall.
- Emirates NBD leads customer Recommendation: with a net score of 75.3 among current and former customers.
The UAE banking sector is large, well capitalized and increasingly digital. The Central Bank of the UAE reported total banking-sector assets of AED 5.56 trillion at end-Q1 2026, while the CBUAE’s FinTech & Digital Transformation identifies digital transformation as an important part of the financial-sector agenda. That context frames the market in which consumers choose retail banks: established institutions, Islamic banks, international banks and digital platforms all compete for attention.
In this article, we cover:
- Top 10 UAE retail banks by Consideration
- Top 5 banks that showed the most improvement in Consideration from last year
- Top 10 banks of Gen Z in the UAE by Consideration
- Top 10 most recommended banks by current and former customers
- Methodology behind the rankings
Emirates NBD is the most considered bank by UAE residents
Emirates NBD ranks 1st, with 29.2% of UAE adults saying they would consider the bank the next time they are in the market to open a bank account or subscribe to a banking product. ADCB follows at 24.2%, while First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) ranks 3rd at 22.0%.
The top 3 are unchanged in rank from the previous year, pointing to a stable leadership group at the top of the market. Dubai Islamic Bank ranks 4th at 18.2%, just ahead of ADIB at 18.1%, leaving two Islamic-bank brands close together in the top 5.
FAB is the most improved bank in the UAE
Across 25 brands tracked, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) records the largest year-over-year gain, rising 1.1% to reach 22.0% Consideration. RAK BANK follows with a 0.9% increase, while Mashreq Bank and Wio each gain 0.8%. Mashreq Neo closes out the top 5 with a change in score of 0.4%.
The big three hold with Gen Z too
Emirates NBD leads at 23.9%, followed by ADCB at 22.3% and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) at 21.5%, also taking the top 3 spots among Gen Z . But Emirates NBD’s lead is less pronounced among Gen Z than in the wider UAE population.
Ranks 4th among Gen Z, up from 5th overall , and Sharjah Islamic Bank appears in the Gen Z top 10 despite not appearing in the overall ranking .
Younger consumers still consider the UAE’s biggest banks, but the category looks a little more open among them.
Emirates NBD holds #1 in Recommendation, mirroring its consideration lead
Emirates NBD dominates the UAE banking landscape, securing the top position with a net Recommendation score of 75.3 among current and former customers, while also leading on Consideration. However, the competitive gap tightens significantly below, with the UAE's four other major banks, ADCB, ADIB, FAB, and NBQ (National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain) are clustered closely together, separated by just 5.1 points.
The order is where the story gets more interesting. ADIB ranks higher on Recommendation than it does on Consideration, moving from 5th in the broad-market ranking to 3rd among current and former customers. Dubai Islamic Bank shows the opposite pattern: it ranks 4th on Consideration but 9th on Recommendation, with a net score of 64.4.
The table is relatively compressed after the leader. The gap between ADCB in 2nd and Dubai Islamic Bank in 9th is 7.4 score points, suggesting that several banks sit within a competitive middle band on customer recommendation.
Several brands are strong across both metrics. Emirates NBD, ADCB, FAB, ADIB, Emirates Islamic, HSBC and Dubai Islamic Bank all appear in the top 10 for both Consideration and Recommendation. But the shifts in order show why the customer view matters.
Methodology
This article draws on YouGov BrandIndex data collected in the UAE from August 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026. The previous-period comparison for the improvers table uses data from August 1, 2024 to July 31, 2025.
Consideration is the percentage of respondents who would consider a bank when next in the market to open a bank account or subscribe to a banking product.
Gen Z refers to respondents born from 1997 to 2012. Recommendation is reported as a net score among current and former customers. Recommendation is reported as a net score among current and former customers. It is based on whether respondents would recommend or avoid a bank to a friend or colleague.
Recommendation is reported as a net score among current and former customers. It is based on whether respondents would recommend or avoid a bank to a friend or colleague.
Figures are rounded to one decimal place. Year-on-year changes are shown in percentage points.
Data analysis in this article was conducted by YouGov with the assistance of AI tools.
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