The logo was created in 1975 by the firm Walter Landor Associates, a brand consulting firm founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, a pioneer in research, design, and consulting methods, with offices in multiple countries, including Mexico. They are the same people who created the famous Sabritas smiley face logo.
The person responsible for this design was Fernando Mercado del Collado, a graphic and industrial designer with more than 50 years of career, famous for multiple works that have given identity to many national brands, including Bachoco, Industrial Bloquera and Fisomex.
What does the Banamex symbol mean?
It’s not shrimp, it’s not a rosette, and it’s not a pinwheel either. They are letters “B” joined, forming a star in the center.
Each of the five “B”s represents the five institutions that made up Banamex: Banco Nacional de México, Financiadora de Ventas Banamex, Financiera Banamex, Hipotecaria Banamex and Seguros América.
In the documentary “Grandes de la Identidad”, Fernando Mercado relates: “Banamex was the first bank to become commercial banking, and they were the five companies that constituted commercial banking, so that’s why the five “b”s. Banco Nacional de México was shortened to be Banamex.”
That identity, according to Mercado, helped Banamex stand out in an era when credit cards were a technological novelty.