Stanbic Bank Named Zimbabwe’s Best Bank at 2025 Top Companies Survey Awards

Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe has been named Best Bank at the 2025 Top Companies Survey Awards (image source)

Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe has been crowned the Best Bank in the country at the 2025 Top Companies Survey Awards, an event sponsored by Old Mutual Zimbabwe to honour firms demonstrating sustained growth and financial discipline in an increasingly volatile economic environment. This year’s edition placed strong emphasis on fundamentals — business volumes, cashflow resilience and adherence to sound banking principles — signalling a return to core performance metrics as the benchmark for corporate excellence. Announcing Stanbic’s win, judges’ committee chairperson Prosper Tafadzwa Matiashe said the Standard Bank Group subsidiary excelled across all key indicators. Credit quality, he noted, was a central metric, with Stanbic praised for maintaining a clean loan book and prudent lending practices in a high-risk economy.

The bank’s hedging strategy was highlighted as a crucial differentiator. With local companies navigating currency volatility and shifting liquidity patterns, adjudicators assessed how well banks recalibrated their hedging frameworks to align with operational cashflow needs. Matiashe said Stanbic demonstrated agility in risk mitigation and cashflow optimisation, a balance that impressed the judges. Another standout factor was Deposit and Liquidity Management. Stanbic showed a superior ability to attract deposits from liquid, high-value clients and redeploy them at competitive rates, indicating strong customer confidence and disciplined balance sheet management.

The award also recognised Stanbic’s commitment to digital transformation and operational efficiency. In a banking landscape defined by rising costs and evolving customer expectations, the bank’s investment in digital systems and automation delivered measurable improvements in service delivery and margin protection. According to adjudicators, the strongest performers in 2025 shared several traits: exposure to real USD incomes, broad distribution networks, robust governance models and the capacity to streamline operations without eroding customer satisfaction. Matiashe said this year’s results reflect a maturing corporate environment. “The 2025 Awards highlight a business landscape that is becoming more disciplined, operationally focused and transparent. We celebrate the resilience and strategic agility of Zimbabwean corporates in adapting to these momentous economic shifts,” he said.

For Stanbic Bank, the accolade reinforces its position as a stability anchor within Zimbabwe’s financial sector — a bank recognised for consistency and disciplined fundamentals in a challenging operating climate. As regulatory reforms, digital acceleration and strong governance increasingly define banking competitiveness, Stanbic’s recognition underscores the rising value of long-term stability over short-term gains.