Emirates NBD has retained its position as the UAE’s most-considered banking brand, while also leading customer recommendations, according to the 2026 UAE Bank Rankings released by YouGov.

Emirates NBD was named by 29.2% of UAE adults as a bank they would consider when next opening an account or subscribing to a banking product, placing it ahead of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) at 24.2% and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) at 22%.

The top three positions remained unchanged from the previous year, highlighting the stability of the UAE’s banking sector leadership. Dubai Islamic Bank ranked fourth with 18.2%, narrowly ahead of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) at 18.1%.

While Emirates NBD retained its lead, FAB recorded the strongest year-on-year improvement among the 25 banking brands tracked by YouGov, increasing its consideration score by 1.1 percentage points to 22%. RAKBANK followed with a 0.9-point gain, while Mashreq Bank and Wio each improved by 0.8 points.

The rankings also show that the competitive landscape is evolving selectively rather than experiencing a broad shift in consumer preferences.

Emirates NBD also leads recommendations

Emirates NBD’s strength extends beyond consideration, with the bank recording a net Recommendation score of 75.3 among its current and former customers — the highest in the UAE.

ADCB, ADIB, FAB and National Bank of Umm Al Qaiwain (NBQ) formed the next group, with only 5.1 points separating the four banks, indicating a much tighter contest for customer advocacy below the market leader.

NBQ, HSBC and Bank of Sharjah were also among the brands receiving strong recommendation scores from their current and former customers.

Gen Z ranking

Emirates NBD ranked first among Gen Z with a consideration score of 23.9%, followed by ADCB at 22.3% and FAB at 21.5%. The same three banks therefore retained the top three positions among younger adults.

However, the rankings become more competitive further down the table. Mashreq Neo and Sharjah Islamic Bank performed slightly better among Gen Z than among UAE adults overall, while Mashreq Neo moved into fourth place among Gen Z.

The findings suggest that while younger consumers continue to consider the UAE’s largest established banks, digital and newer banking propositions have greater scope to compete for their attention.

The results come as the UAE banking sector continues to expand against a backdrop of strong balance sheets and rapid digitalisation. Central Bank of the UAE data showed total banking-sector assets of AED5.56 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. - TradeArabia News Service