RMB Private Bank has once again set the benchmark for excellence, being named the overall winner in the 2025/26 Ask Afrika Orange Index across 200 brands and 26 brand categories, securing the title of Best Private Bank – both of these for the second time in just three years. Now in its 24th year, the Ask Afrika Orange Index stands as South Africa’s most comprehensive and independent measure of customer experience.
These awards mean so much more as the recognition comes directly from the people who matter most to us – our clients. Gareth Matthews, Head of RMB Private Bank, attributes this success to a deliberate strategy focused on real client needs, simplified engagement model, omni-channel delivery, and a strengthened advisory platform. “These awards weren’t won in isolation,” he says. “They’re the result of a coordinated effort that put the client at the centre, and ensures advice, platform, and product work seamlessly together.”
A key component of that approach is RMB Private Bank’s ambition-led advice model. It puts the client and their aspirations at the heart of every transaction. Recognising that clients are more than their careers or financial profiles, the private bank has focused on delivering value across every dimension of their lives, with a concerted focus on making its advice and service more human, connected and relevant to how clients actually live.
Importantly, the recognition isn’t viewed internally as an endpoint, but rather as a useful experience benchmark that measures their progress while energising the people who deliver that experience every day. For staff, the recognition is tangible proof that their work matters. For clients, it validates the trust they’ve placed in a bank that has consciously chosen to compete on quality, consistency and integrity. “We’re proud, but not complacent,” Matthews says. “In a market as competitive as ours, every award is also a reminder to stay focused, stay honest and keep earning our clients’ confidence.”
Matthews says that RMB Private Bank is committed to building on this momentum. “We don’t measure our success by the number of trophies in the cabinet,” he says, “we measure it by whether those trophies mean something real to the people we serve – and we are confident that they do.”
In addition to its recent accolades in the Ask Afrika Orange Index®, RMB Private Bank’s recognition this year has been as diverse as it is impressive. At the 2025 Euromoney Global Private Banking Awards*, RMB Private Bank was named the best Private Bank in South Africa, further reinforcing its position as a leader in client-centric financial services. These awards reflect the bank’s continued commitment to excellence, innovation, and delivering meaningful value to clients across every dimension of their lives.