How do you define “cool”?

The Urban Dictionary (which is way cooler than other dictionaries) says “cool” is:

An adjective referring to something that is very good, stylish, or otherwise positive. [As in,] Your computer is very cool.

Welcome to our fourth annual list of the 10 financial services brands that are “very good,” “stylish,” and “otherwise positive.” This list — which is followed by a rundown of honorable mentions, as well as a “meh” list — is not the result of a popularity contest, nor is it based on something as prosaic as “data,” “analysis” or anything concrete. Our apologies to all you data wonks out there.

Like all brands, our list is based on nothing less than our “impressions,”  “feelings,” and “beliefs.” Brand is, of course, an ethereal thing. While it might be based on actions and efforts, it is, in the end, nothing more than perception. We “believe” Apple is “important,” so it is.

And that’s what makes brand so profoundly interesting. A brand is the culmination of, well, a lot of stuff, and not any one component can be absolutely weighed or divined. Does it matter to “do a good job”? Yes. Will a brand benefit from creating products that are “new” and “innovative”? Sure. And a whole lot more.

We have mashed these and many more factors into our consideration. But, mainly, we have relied on fact — what has been done and accomplished — for in the end the most profound determinant of a brand’s worth is what is yields. And these 10 companies right now are yielding lots of “cool.”

Here are the Coolest Brands in Banking –>