The two largest mortgage originators in the US, Bank of America (BAC) and Wells Fargo (WF), were both among the top 25 most recognized brands by women in a new monthly index compiled by NBC Universal. No other financial institutions made the list. The index is part of a new NBC female-targeted ad sales and marketing research initiative. NBCU collected their data from a compilation of online search data from ComScore, social media buzz data from New Media Strategies and person-to-person conversations tracked by Keller Faye. The index found that 16 of the top 25 most recognized brands were in product categories typically thought to be male-dominated, finance included. President of NBC’s Women & Lifestyle Entertainment networks, Lauren Zalaznick, said the index is important because it displays female trends nationwide. “In addition to being responsible for 85% of today’s consumer purchases, women are also the biggest brand ambassadors. Research shows that 96% of women will recommend a product to a friend if she likes it,” said Zalaznick. “On iVillage alone, there are 20,000 brand recommendations each month.” The Word of Mouth study tracked by Keller Faye found that women talk about brands incessantly — about 92 times a week. Sixty-two percent of women said what they heard from other was credible and believable, and 51% said they would purchase something based on a conversation. Wal-mart was the No. 1 most recognized brand, followed by Target, Verizon, EBay and AT&T. Gap and Kohl’s were also in the top 25. Write to Christine Ricciardi. Disclosure: the author holds no relevant investments.