Banks and Social Media

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http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/03/29/how-banks-are-embracing-socialmedia/
The emergence of social media has changed modern day communication. While that may sound like a cliché, it is a true fact and one that has disrupted the way that companies across a range of industries communicate with their customers and target audiences. While the establishment of sites like Facebook, which boasts close to 850 million users worldwide, as mainstream channels of communication has come more easily to some industries than others. Banking is one of the oldest and most prestigious industries yet social is not yet a mainstream channel, in the same way that is in sports companies, the retail industry and other consumer-facing spaces have embraced social networks and the Internet. As adoption of social media is far from mainstream for banks, this article aims to focus at why that is the case, which brands are blazing a trail and how the rise of social media and the Web may influence the future of bank-consumer communications.

Why banks?

Banking is a notable industry because banks are a prerequisite for every adult in the world, although emerging markets do have a significantly lower ratio of usage. The fact that most people need a bank account means half of the battle for consumers is won already as the demand is there. What is key for banks is an understanding of their customers and exactly what they are looking for; and that’s an area where social media can be hugely beneficial.

A tool for understanding customers
If there’s one key reason for banks jumping into social media it would the potential to understand customers. Banks spend fortunes trying to get feedback and responses as they look gauge customer interest, yet all of that and more can be found online. Social media is packed full of opinions, wishes and other comments. While it is true that a lot of that noise is irrelevant, if the data can be distilled, it has the potential to give banks vital insight and understanding of their existing and prospective customers and their wants and needs.

Challenge 1: Customers
The first challenge that presents itself is the caution of customers. While hundreds of millions of people have become comfortable with sharing their lives online — in a way that was almost unimaginable a few years ago — there are areas where they feel less safe online. Money and bank details are arguably among the more troubling areas, and for good reason. Stories of websites and databases being hacked and bank details being stolen, email scams, viruses from the Internet and other incidents have trained many web users to be wary of using money online. To the point that this reluctance has manifested itself in communicating with banks and discussing anything financial online.

According to a recent report from Avaya and BT, 69 percent of customers in the UK would not use social media to interact with their bank. While that figure is lower in the US (62 percent), Germany (64 percent) and Spain (47 percent), it doesn’t represent an audience that is particularly open to being communicated to. But a key problem is that many banks just aren’t doing it right. A survey into 50 banks by Assetinum.com concluded that, though banks are beginning to step up social media accounts, few are actively using them and that is dissuading their audiences. Though 42 of the banks used Twitter, just 26 were actively tweeting and engaging with customers. Two thirds of banks were found to be actively using Facebook, while just 15 banks made relevant use of YouTube. On average the banks only scored one third of the possible total of assessment points for Twitter usage. Facebook scored worse than Twitter however, as just 18 banks (55 percent) with an active Facebook profile reacted to a test friend request, which the firm sees as a clear sign of “insufficient interaction with the users”. Reflecting the mixed efforts, Benjamin Manz, managing partner of Assetinum, called the strategies implemented by the banks “amateurish”.

“For a surprisingly high amount of banks a convincing social media strategy is still not distinguishable,” he says in the report, which analysed the social media performance of leading private banks worldwide. Though the confidence figures are low, banks must take a part of the blame here. The level of activity from banks on social media is one big factor that can put customers at ease and give them greater confidence, although it won’t convince them all, of course.

Challenge 2: Selling social media internally
Part of the problem is that banks do not understand how to strategically use social media, or have problems ‘selling’ the idea and benefits to senior executives. “There is no return on investment for social media,” says Singapore-based bank marketing specialist Rob Findlay, “but many senior executive just don’t get that. You can’t really measure it, it’s like trying to find the ROI of your mother.” Findlay, who has worked at Australia Nation Bank (NAB), one institution well know for embracing social media, explains that banks are beginning to embrace social media. “Initially, many were fairly reluctant but now they are getting involved,” he says. “It’s a little bit like watching a kid sit on the edge of the pool waiting to get it.” Let’s take a look at which brands have made a splash and how they can expect to benefit from getting wet.

Examples and incentives for social media platforms
Facebook Subtly appears to be the key for banks who have grown their presence on Facebook. Perhaps that’s no surprise, given the privacy concerns that most users on the social network have but is interesting to note that banks with the most fans have leverage ‘extra curricular activities.

JP Morgan Chase’s Community Giving page is dedicated to channels donations that the bank gives to charities.The initiative began in 2009 and a new extension announced last year saw Chase commit an additional $25 million to the philanthropic Facebook program.

British banks Barclays and RBS have made use of their commitment to sports — football and rugby respectively — to grow their Facebook footprint and show that just sticking to banking isn’t going to bring in big numbers. That emphasis is backed up by Standard Chartered Bank which has seen its sponsorship of global icon Liverpool Football Club bring it to the attention of many people worldwide. “Our most popular topics for content, based on listening as well as engagement are, our sponsorships of Liverpool FC and nine marathons across the globe, as well as our sustainability activities,” Standard Chartered’s Marged Lloyd, Group Head of Online Communications, explained to The Next Web. Twitter Twitter is perhaps the most obvious tool for banks as it allows for a more direct customer service experience. Canadian bank TD (@TD_Canada) is a prime example. TD uses the service to provide as part of its customer services push to respond to customer tweets and provide information to its followers. Staffed by 9 social media staff, TD has built up almost

10,000 followers by providing a more personal approach, allowing customer to “comfortably connect with real people at TD”.

While a large number of banks have claimed their Twitter handle, far fewer have followed TD’s lead by investing in the channel. If you’re a prospective bank account owner in Canada, the idea that you could avoid a lengthy telephone wait and tweet a basic question is quite an attractive one. That said, Twitter does have its limits as there are still many questions that are too private or specialised for it, however it is offering a complimentary service in addition to others Foursquare While location-based service Foursquare may not seem like having obvious synergy for banks, one in Thailand has used it to appeal to customers that enjoy the service.

Kasikorn Bank has been a heavy user of Twitter and Facebook for some time and, in 2010, it made the unique move to embrace Foursquare.as part of its social footprint. The bank gave its users prizes in exchange for becoming the major of its selected branches, and also picking up majorships at selected retail outlets across Thai capital Bankok. Special Foursquare debit cards were also made available to users. The bank’s use of Foursquare has subsequently passed [in Thai] but it says that it is planning to introduce more schemes in the future. Google+ As the newest mainstream social network on the Internet, Google+ is unsurprisingly further behind when it comes to brand interaction, as well as users. While the debate about just how popular Google+ is will continue to go on, there is no doubt that the service offers a unique set of possibilities through which banks could communicate with customers. In addition to a layout that places emphasis on images — to the point that Facebook introduced a new layout for photos that is remarkably similar — Hangout is a feature quite unlike anything on any other social network. Plenty of celebrities have used Hangouts to connect with fans – US President Obama, NASCAR, Middle Eastern pop stars, Japanese girlbands and others — but it remains a largely untapped tool for retailers, brands and banks. While there are limitations on the number of attendees and it is not private enough to discuss personal finance details, Hangouts could be an interesting way to hold a first meeting or general FAQ session for prospective bank clients. Certainly the alternative of a Hangout rather than a face-to-face meeting or conversation is a real differentiator, especially when considering that most correspondence from banks is comparatively slow and formal.

There are some banks using Google+, as Visible Banking notes, with NAB leading the pack, although it has adopted a Twitter-like approach with no Hangouts so far.

YouTube Building on the visual possibilities of Google+ Hangouts, YouTube is arguably the most ideal place to use multimedia content. Consistently ranked as one of the top websites anywhere in the world, The Google-owned video site sees more than 800 million visitors per month, according to Ad Planner, which would account for a vast number of current and prospective customers. Not only that but YouTube videos can be embedded and share in blogs, websites and social networks across the Internet increasing the reach. Unlike other social networks, YouTube is much more of a one way conversation, which restrictions the value that banks from gather from it. However, with banking seen in a boring light by many, YouTube videos and clips could help provide a fresh and vibrant approach to stand out from the crowd. Blogs

Blogs are often forgotten when analysing social media but they still carry significant sway and importance for brands. The attention on blogs comes from two angles: both communicating and listening. A blog can help give a voice to an organisation and promote information and it is also a great way to personalize a brand and build and extend relationships with audiences and key influencers. Bloggers are passionate and (very often) knowledgeable sources who can provide feedback, help and influence, while their writing can also help pinpoint issues, problems and give an indication of customer opinion. There there are the occasional PR disasters, like the one that blew up in Singapore when a highprofile blogger was inspired by an advert promoting cake on birthdays, that are easier to deal with when a team has existing relationships and knowledge of local blogospheres and key influencers.

Adopting an integrated approach
Social networks themselves are simply the points of interaction and, more importantly than them, is the need for a cohesive and coordinated marketing that dovetails into existing communications efforts elsewhere. A real challenge for banks, and other organisations is thinking digitally and ensuring that digital media is a part of PR and marketing, rather than a separate silo altogether. “Social media requires a cohesive approach,” Findlay explains, “it needs to be integrated into other channels and properly resourced in order to relevant and stand a chance of success.” SC is one bank that is doing that, and a recent awareness campaign in Singapore saw it make use of digital media to find and hire the World Coolest Intern’ campaign during 2010. In addition to hiring a dedicated social media specialist from thousands of entries, the bank helped build a reputation as one that understands the media with existing customer and future ones.

SC’s Lloyd explained that the bank’s focus on social media began in 2009 and 2010 when it “identified that people were talking about us online.” Lloyd explains that the bank decided it needed to be involved in these discussions, “we have made a conscious decision to participate in these conversations in a meaningful way”, she explains. While the decision to get involved, deciding how to react to the swirling mass of users and loss of control is not, so how did SC begin? “Our social media strategy focuses on driving brand awareness and managing our reputation,” Lloyd says,”through select global and country-specific social channels.” Indeed, as well as household names like Twitter and Facebook, SC is involved on other local platforms including Weibo microblogging services in China.

Nothing to fear but fear itself
There is nothing to be afraid of, except fear itself, and Lloyd explains that SC keeps things simple and very much like traditional PR. “We’ve opted for simple, low risk opportunities” she says, before explaining that the social media efforts dissect a wide range of existing efforts, including media relations, branding and sponsorships, crisis management, light-touch product promotion and reactive customer service. Even beyond that there are opportunities within internal communications, recruitment, thought leadership and corporate social responsibility and charitable efforts, Findlay outlines. However he points out that, while SC may be one of the more savvy banks, many of its competitors are reluctant to open the door. “Social media has been very foreign to banks,” the Australian explains. “It doesnt fall inside regular marketing, which is always one way traffic, pushing generic messages and communication.” “Then there’s the fact that it can’t be controlled, suddenly customer has some power, one-in-many. Banks worry about the ramifications of being involved and the problems of not involved, but things get worse the longer that they wait.”

This loss of control is a worry for many industries but banks, with a lot of stake and boundaries which define where and how customers can be advised, are particularly cautious. However there are events and groups that are helping to show the promise of social media to banks.

Next Bank Asia
Aside from his day job at local Singaporean bank, Findlay is doing his bit to help banks in the region through a conference called Next Bank Asia. The inaugural event takes places 8-9 May in Singapore, and the concept is aimed at helping banks to improve their understanding and experience of social media, and other disruptive elements. Findlay explains that Next Bank Asia is different to other social media workshops and events as it will approach issues from a disruptive angle and is organized entirely by those in the banking industry, like Findlay. Future events will take place in other cities and regions in Asia to help encourage local support and attendance and accommodate the fast-changing social media space too.

Conclusion
While Facebook messages and Twitter DMs will never replace bank statements, banking is undeniably dragging behind on the social media revolution. There are some banks taking steps forward but, as an industry, caution and lack of understanding is holding it back. While smaller more flexible organisations have picked up the slack early on, it seems like only a matter of time until bigger banks take notice and begin wooing customers through social networks. There are some things that social media can never replicate, however, so don’t expect to lose those regular meetings with your bank manager…but you can still be friends on Facebook.

http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/546814/how-retail-and-investment-banksare-using-social-media-case-studies

Case Studies: Retail and Investment Banks Use of Social Media

The past couple of months have seen an increased acknowledgement of the role social media has to play in the development of the financial services sector. Industry forums like Finextra'sLive Social Media Days held in London and New York and the inaugural LinkedIn Financial Services Summit in New York are capturing the zeitgeist of financial social media. eModeration's own ‘Guide to managing social media engagement for financial organisations’ presents the best practices of financial organisations using social media and discusses the benefits that social media engagement can bring to financial organisations, with suggestions on how the industry can engage consumers online without breaking regulations. If you'd prefer a digest, here are a few best practice rules to follow along the way. br />To see how this is playing out in reality, here's a look at how some retail and investment banks are using social media and see how they are adapting themselves to cope with the challenges of social media within their legislative framework. The guidance in the US is far more clear-cut than in the UK. In the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) want advisers participating in social media sites to keep and store detailed records of their communications (up to five years for advisers participating in social media sites, with three years in a readily available format), and content posted on social media to be vetted by regulators and internal compliance departments. Firms must also be careful about distinguishing what constitutes a recommendation and what constitutes research. In the UK, the 2010 FSA guidelines on 'new media' assume that the main use of social media will be as another marketing channel, rather than a medium of consumer or peer interaction, and guidance as yet is not so clear. An update from the regulator's Mortgage Market Review said in 2011 that it was "perfectly possible" for mortgage advice to be offered via social media sites, texts and instant messaging on mobile phones, adding the proviso only that firms who offer advice on mortgage deals by text and live web chat must still assess whether the mortgage is appropriate for the customer.

Investment Firms Goldman Sachs Group, Inc The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., the most powerful investment bank on Wall Street, is going to be the brand to watch over the coming months. Admittedly, it's been a tough year so far for the group,following the crisis caused by a 'rogue' employee Greg Smith, whose resignation letter in The New York Times decried his firm’s “toxic culture,” and alleged that senior Goldman bankers had disparaged clients. The viral spread of Gerg's letter lead to the losses of $2 billion worth of market value as company’s shares fell 3.4 in trading over the course of the day after Greg’s announcement.

CEO Lloyd Blankfein (who, incidentally, has an $16.2 million annual salary) hit the business news for the first time after two years' silence with a confession: “Obviously it’s occurred to us that we haven’t gotten anything, er, everything right with respect to how we, how we’ve dealt with the public". Goldman Sachs CEO’s announcement was followed by immediate changes within the organisation: a new Head of PR, Jake Siewert, who started his work with an announcement of the new vacancy - Social Media Strategist. In a job posting on the company website, the bank said the ideal candidate will be responsible for “monitoring online conversations and participating in those conversations to build brand visibility and thought leadership.” Poisoned chalice or career-making challenge? Goldman Sachs, who only started tweeting on their official Twitter account - @GoldmanSachs - on 24th May 2012, is taking the first step in entering the social media arena. Will Siewart's efforts and those of the new 'Social Media Strategist' succeed in turning the beleaguered giant's reputation around? Watch this space.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney She may not have composed it, but Fay DeBellis, a Minneapolis-based adviser for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB), posted “Next stop Dow 57,757?” , and her version happened to be the 2,000th Twitter message by a Morgan Stanley adviser. 600 or more of its 17,800 financial advisers have been given access to Twitter and LinkedIn in the past year to seek out potential customers. As Mashable analysed a year ago: "such professionals hadn’t used either platform because of stringent SEC and FINRA regulations. Among those rules: Such advisers have to archive all their electronic interactions and they can’t use LinkedIn’s “recommend” feature because of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. " 2011 has been a challenging year, trying to find the best solutions and the software to ensure compliance with the regulations. Morgan Stanley has opted for Socialware. Socialware sells software that can archive messages, house a library of prewritten content and allow compliance officers to oversee postings. Fay BeBellis' tweet wasn’t an impromptu thought from an investor. It was a prewritten post, taken from a library of 140-character messages that had been approved by the compliance department of Morgan Stanley and sent out by financial advisers at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Ms DeBellis assessed that LinkedIn alone has bought her about $10 million worth of business over 18 months. In June 2011, MSSB also launched Advisor Insights, claiming it to be the first internal social networking site for such financial advisers. Working like an internal version of LinkedIn, financial advisers with experience in a specific area post their profiles, follow peers, and pair up with other advisers within the company who need their expertise. "Our social media program allows [financial advisers] to use LinkedIn and Twitter in a compliant way," says Pollak. "They can have a robust LinkedIn profile that discusses their practice and specialties, broadening their online presence and allowing them to leverage the networking and thought leadership capabilities the site offers. It allows [advisers] to find mutual connections with customers—essentially

making every prospecting call a warm call instead of a cold call."

J.P. Morgan • J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan Service - a subsidiary of J.P Morgan Chase & Co - launched a social media forum called ‘Voice of the Community’ in 2011. Billed as an “interactive virtual experience for J.P. Morgan plan sponsor clients”, the invitation-only website will be an online resource for plan sponsors to interact with others, share experiences, and exchange product feedback. The Voice of the Community will offer resources in the form of case studies and white papers, information and guidance on new products and services.

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The J.P. Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (now in it's 36th year of being) last year ran a successful global social media campaign primarily on Facebook, engaging communities all over the major global cities. This social media strategy is built on the excitement of the offline event – a race organised in the various cities across the globe. Designed to raise money for charity and promote 'fitness in the worksplace', the new social media element of the race increased brand awareness and built up online communities to share in the excitement before, during and after the event.

Consumer Banks: CitiBank One of the largest consumer banks in the USA is actively using Twitter to resolve customer complaints. Frank Eliason (who was behind @Comcastcares) joined the organisation in August 2010, and set about revolutionising the way the bank talked to its customers via Twitter, YouTube and blogs.

As was reported in The Wall, the move is part of a plan to target young, wealthy customers in urban areas and create a customer experience appropriate to them. Investing in technology is also a wise move for a retail bank that has relatively few branches and needs to sign more people up online. Aviva UK – Magic Money In late 2011, Aviva - the world’s sixth largest insurance group and a UK savings and pensions provider implemented a social media campaign across Facebook, Youtube and other social media sites, aiming at encouraging younger workers to save for the future. Social media was chosen as the most effective and efficient way of connecting and building the relationship with younger audiences while also educating them about finance, sharing ideas and provoking conversations. Aviva chose this way to engage a group traditionally hard to interest in savings and pensions: they created informational, entertaining content which drove traffic to their Facebook page. HSBC UK bank HSBC- an eModeration client - have been proving the worth of social media both on Facebook with their Advance and Student pages, and on Twitter. HSBC Advance is a pilot by the global banking team to test whether its customers wanted to communicate via Facebook. They do. In just under one year, HSBC Advance has over 76,000 fans and handles all kinds of customer services issues. The HSBC

Student Bursary competition hosted on Facebook, now in its fourth year, attracted 363 video entries in 2011 and the competition page received more than 38,000 'likes'. HSBC's social media team also drew praise recently for a demonstration of how social media can assist in a crisis, their Twitter account keeping customers updated during a technical failure which resulted in a cash machine outage. Swedbank Update: Just heard about Swedbank, the the leading bank in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which has opened a virtual branch on social networking website Draugiem.lv. This makes it the first virtual bank branch on a social networking site in Europe. At this branch, any registered user of Draugiem.lv will have "fast, convenient and safe access to online aadvice about their finances from Swedbank's experts".

Many thanks to Neria Kundrotaite, CEO Strategy and Business Development at Lex van Dam Trading Academy, for her assistance in writing this article.

The Conversation Report: A Banking Industry Social Media Study
http://thefinancialbrand.com/24551/social-media-banking-conversation-report/ Perhaps no industry has changed as much in recent years as banking. Events like the mortgage crisis, BofA’s ill-fated debit card fee and Occupy Wall Street have soiled consumer confidence in U.S. banks. In an effort to earn back their trust, some financial institutions have adopted social media channels in an effort to connect and engage with consumers.
Social Media Explorer, a digital media marketing agency, wanted to evaluate this approach and see if it’s working… or not (hint: not really). “The Conversation Report: What Consumers are Saying About Banking,” is a 112-page study shares research-based insights that can help banks and credit unions decipher the nagging social media riddle. Jason Falls, CEO of SME and author of the report, says financial marketers lack a solid understanding of the online conversations occurring around banks and banking products. They need to know what consumers are thinking and saying. “What most banks are doing in the social media space is not enough to win back consumers,” explained Falls. “The Conversation Report delivers an in-depth analysis of the topics and conversations that will help guide marketing decisions at banks and other retail financial institutions in the coming months and years.” While traditional market research says what fellow bank marketers are thinking or doing, The Conversation Report offers unfiltered insights into what the public is saying about the top bank brands, community banks, credit unions and the products and services they offer.

Key Insights
For all the bad juju in the financial world, people still mostly like their bank.Using NetBase’s sentiment analysis, the report found that of the top 25 FDIC asset banks, 23 had higher than 60% positive sentiment in online conversations about their bank.
The 7 Business Drivers of Social Media

 Enhance Branding & Awareness  Protect Brand Reputation  Extend Brand Public Relations  Build Community Around the Brand  Extend Customer Service for the Brand Facilitate Research & Development for the Brand  Drive Sales and Leads for the Brand

For banks in social media, size doesn’t (necessarily) matter. Being the biggest bank doesn’t necessarily equal having the biggest piece of the online conversation pie. For example, Goldman Sachs, the 21st largest FDIC asset bank, ranks third in online buzz and conversation. Banking consumers are fickle. One of the top conversations taking place on the banking industry is customer service. While it was listed as one of the top three positive areas consumers discuss, at the same time it was one of the top three negative areas consumers discuss for seven of the top 10 banks. Advertising works… at least at driving sentiment. In other words, you can use branding tools (like advertising) to shape and influence your image and reputation. Banks that made a big splash in advertising scored big with consumers talking positively about them online. For example, Capital One and HSBC’s ad campaigns are notable and “buzzworthy” for being either humorous or thought provoking. This matters because other bank ad campaigns failed to crack 8% of positive online conversations. Customers do not like to pay fees to access their money. Both ATM and overdraft fees emerged as consistent pain points for consumers. Banks that restore or reimburse ATM fees are big winners in this category. Falls at SME says the report shouldn’t serve as a blanket blueprint for a financial institution’s social media strategy so much as a contextual backdrop or compass. “I’d always recommend more focused research and assessment for individual banks and brands before determining one’s marketing goals and objectives,” Falls elaborated. “But the insights gleaned and reported here are powerful supplements to a brand’s existing research and consumer insights. It will help you understand your customers, their wishes, fears and demands, while also giving you a wealth of information on which you can base your approach to social media marketing.”

Passion Index for Top 25 U.S. Banks
While many of the brands fall in the middle of the chart, there are some clear winners in Brand Passion online. State Street Bank and PNC Bank stand above the others with high positive sentiment and high passion scores. Bank of America and Wells Fargo are the most disliked or even hated of the brands.

Sentiment Comparisons for Top 25 U.S. Banks
Bank of America dominates the volume of online conversations with 1.2 million mentions, over 40 percent more than its nearest competitor (JP Morgan Chase) which registered over 800,000 conversations. Goldman Sachs and Citibank also had over half a million conversations with Citibank, Wells Fargo and HSBC rounding out a “Big Six” grouping — those with over 400,000 online mentions. The next highest volume of mentions came from ING, PNC Bank and Capital One, each with 140,000-180,000 mentions.

About The Conversation Report
Social Media Explorer banking industry report is a survey of the online conversational marketplace with specific focus on the topic of banking and the banking industry. Using online market research tools, social media monitoring and other indexing services, the report identifies and analyzes thousands of mentions of banks, financial institutions and the consumer-driven topics around them. The goal was to find out what consumers were saying in relation to these institutions and their industries. For the report, Social Media Explorer: Interviewed several bank and financial industry marketers to establish a foundation of understanding of the industry from the brand perspective
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Identified the top performing national and regional bank brands in the U.S.

Identified the top banking brands on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to potentially serve as examples or best practices for others

Developed a list of recommendations for banks and financial institutions interested in entering the social media marketing world based on the here-and-now conversations of consumers
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Most Banks still Struggle with Social Media
Only a select group of the world’s leading banks have finally grasped the opportunities of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. This is a main finding in our new analysis of the social media presences of the world’s top 50 banks. In the ranking Citibank comes out as winner with an outstanding 47 points out of a maximum of 50. Runners up are BBVA of Spain and the National Australia Bank (NAB) with 44 points each, followed by Crédit Agricole and Deutsche Bank with 43 points. (see Top10-

Ranking below)
According to our report, “Social Media in Banking 2012”, this small group of social media leaders in the banking sector have each managed to build an excellent social media presence reaching across all the important social networks and across global markets, and also including their own websites. A success built on an integrated global social media strategy, in most cases executed by a global team of social media specialists. Following behind this group of social media leaders are the social media discoverers. A group which includes about 40% of the analyzed banks and is defined by their offers of some basic elements of social media, for instance a Facebook presence or a Twitter stream to communicate with their customers and the general public. But these banks have failed so far to build an integrated and strategic approach to social media. Although social media have been around for a number of years now, a disappointing third of the benchmarked global banking players still only attain half of the maximum points or even less. This substantial proportion of leading banks worldwide, labeled as social media laggards, miss out on leveraging the new opportunities provided by social media. They have mastered only the basics of social media, are not present on all social media and lack a social media strategy entirely. We see a widening gulf between a handful of banks worldwide, leveraging social media extremely well to serve existing as well potential customers, and the majority of banks still struggling with the new platforms. These banks need to catch up fast or they will lose a new generation of clients. The critical weaknesses that the MyPrivateBanking report identifies for more than two-thirds of the banks are:

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The majority of banks evaluated are still lacking an integrated and strategic approach to social media. For instance, only 16 banks have meaningful content on all the analyzed leading social networks. In most cases, social media are not up-to-date. For instance, social media on bank websites are only in seven out of 50 cases fully up-to-date, defined as the latest content on each blog or videocast etc being no older than 1 week. Facebook, as the most important social network, is still the weakest link for most banks. On average, banks reach only 60% of the total possible points for their Facebook presence in the MyPrivateBanking benchmark.

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In order to catch up with the leaders in social media development, MyPrivateBanking recommends that the top management of every leading bank should be involved in determining the right strategy. Once a clearly defined strategy is in place, a dedicated social media team is needed to execute it,

ensuring that the message the company wants to send is communicated in a effective way across all channels and markets. Our report makes clear that each bank must have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Google Plus and that these presences require frequent updates with lively comments, videos, photos and other content to captivate the user. In addition, increasingly, users expect direct customer support through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where they’re posting questions and complaints and expecting timely responses. Our report makes clear that each bank must have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Google Plus and that these presences require frequent updates with lively comments, videos, photos and other content to captivate the user. In addition, increasingly, users expect direct customer support through social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where they’re posting questions and complaints and expecting timely responses. Taken as a whole, the analysis in the new report demonstrates a clear overall improvement in social media use by banks compared to the results of previous MyPrivateBanking surveys, but still a lot remains to be done. For the vast majority of banks, room for improvement is still extensive and the quality of online presences fails to match the importance of social media as a communication tool by a wide margin. The good news for banks is that, in social media, changes requiring relatively little effort can achieve big improvements. Top 10 Banks with the best social media presences (overall 50 banks ranked): Rank 1 2 2 Bank CITI Bank Banco Bilbao (BBVA) National Australia Bank Credit Agricole Deutsche Bank ING Bank Rabobank Group Standard Chartered Wells Fargo BNP Paribas Average Points (all 50 banks) About the Total Points (max. 50) 47 44 44 43 43 42 42 42 42 41 30

report:

This report “Social Media for Banking” analyses in detail the strengths and weaknesses of the social media presences of the 50 largest banks worldwide. In total almost 250 social media presences were evaluated along 33 criteria; for each bank the quality of the content and functionality as well as the integration with the website is rated. For further information on the report please check here.

Banks Analysed: ABN AMRO ANZ Bank Banco Bilbao V.A. Bank of America Bank of China Bank of Montreal Barclays BB&T BNP Paribas BNY Mellon Bradesco Caisse d`Epargne CIBC CITI Bank Coutts Private Bank Crédit Agricole Credit Suisse Danske Bank Group DBS Bank Deutsche Bank Erste Bank/Sparkasse Österreich Goldman Sachs HSBC ICICI ING Bank Intesa Sanpaolo Itaú Bank J.P. Morgan Julius Bär Lloyds Banking Group Merrill Lynch Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley National Australia Bank Nordea Pictet PNC Financial Services Rabobank Group Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Scotland Santander SEB Bank Société Générale Standard Chartered Suntrust Toronto Dominion UBS Unicredit US Bank Wells Fargo

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un & Bradstreet (D&B), provider of global business information, knowledge and insight, recently launched its

edition of D&B India's study on 'India's Top Banks 2012'. The 'Dun & Bradstreet - Polaris Financial Technology Banking Awards 2012' seeks to recognise the growth and resilience of the Indian banking industry. Kaushal Sampat, president & CEO – India, Dun & Bradstreet said, "There is no running away from the fact that in 2012, we are faced with a difficult domestic economic environment coupled with global uncertainty caused by the Euro-Zone crisis. This situation has posed many challenges to the banking industry, and this is reflected in our FY12 banking analysis covered in India's Top Banks 2012."

Social media includes Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin among other networking websites.

Currently just six per cent of retail banks use social media to deal with customer queries and only a further 1 per cent envisage using it in this way between 2011 and the end of 2012, the statement said. The break-up in this report from Datamonitor shows that only 14 per cent currently use it for marketing, with a further 12 per cent planning to use it to promote their business by the end of 2012. "We feel that this attitude from retail banks towards social media is a major issue in an era of aggressive competition. The banks without a social media strategy are being shortsighted and are placing themselves in a dangerous and vulnerable position compared to competitors who have realised that social media can and must play an intrinsic role in their business," Ovum analyst Martha Bennett said. According to the report, there is a handful of retail banks such as First Direct in the UK, Citi,Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the US and Rabobank in the Netherlands, that have begun to use social media although they are still feeling their way and strategy is very much a work in progress. "These banks have been justifiably held up as industry leaders for their use of social media. However, there is not universal acceptance that social media is either important or suitable for retail banks," Bennett said.

Banks are keeping up with technology through their use of ATMs and, increasingly, by offering online and mobile banking — even partnering with the world's search engine giant to advance mobile commerce, as Citi is doing with Google Wallet. But when it comes to social media and digital channels in general, "retail banking has largely remained on the sidelines," according to Johannes Bussmann, Paul Hye, and Jorg Sandrock, three principals with the global consulting firm Booz & Company, authors of a new report, Banking on Social Media. They argue that banks "need to reach out to younger, more Web-savvy customers... devising new products and services that are simpler and more transparent, and using the power of social networking and other digital platforms to improve their marketing." The authors also suggest that banks could use social networking and digital channels to capitalize on three specific opportunities: 1. Reaching customers. Most banks, the authors say, "still use their websites primarily to provide information and enable standard transactions" when they could start blogs and actively participate in social networks. "Increased transparency, trust, and convenience" online would allow customers to "compare, evaluate and discuss" the banks' offerings. Direct feedback from customers would help banks improve those offerings. The authors cite Wells Fargo as an example of a U.S. bank that uses blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter (even flash mobs) to interact with "Generation C," or the "Connected Generation." Fidor Bank, a new German bank, uses blogs, forums, and social networking to communicate with customers. 2. Reducing costs.

Shifting communications to the Web, the authors suggest, will dramatically reduce the costs of communicating with customers. Banks can sell complex, high-margin products via online channels, adding to their cost savings. Banks that use new technologies can cut the cost of branch operations; for example, Deutsche Bank in Germany and BBVA in Spain use video chat for customer-banker interaction, thus reducing the reliance on traditional branches. 3. Restoring confidence. Employing Web 2.0 technologies can simplify the interactions between customers and banks, thus "building customers' confidence...and helping customers understand complex financial products." Ally Bank in the U.S. uses a "straight talk" marketing campaign and blog to differentiate itself from banks with confusing terms and practices. BankSimple, a U.S. bank that will launch this year, intends to offer free online bill payment, free online and telephone support, and check deposit via a smartphone. While some banks have demonstrated their ability to take advantage of social media and digital channels, the authors say that "few have succeeded in integrating all their various channels into a seamless customer experience."

How Are Indian Banks Faring On Social Media?
by PRA SA NT NA IDU on APRIL 20, 2012

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Presence and performance both matter today for brands on social media and it holds true for all sectors. Recently, IDBI bank declared itself as the most social bank in India(1). If one reads the article intensely then one would find that the basis of self proclamation of the bank has all been based on the number of fans the brand has on Twitter and Facebook. Besides this, it has added Youtube and Google Plus to it’s list but I am keeping them aside. I believe any brand

proclaiming that they are the most social brand then the statement is justified if you compare yourself with your peers in the market. But nothing was mentioned like this. So I decided to compare at my end with the help of Unmetric, which is a social media monitoring product. Presently Unmetric monitors your brand’s presence on Facebook and Twitter. So before I reveal the in-depth analysis on how some of the popular Indian banks are faring on social media, here is a list of input data I have used:  Social Media Monitoring Product: Unmetric.  Social Media Monitoring Networks: Facebook and Twitter.  Social Media Brands Compared: Along with IDBI bank, I have compared Citibank India, HDFC, ICICIand Axis bank for Facebook. For Twitter I have compared Citibank India, HDFC, ICICI and IDBI.  Monitoring Period: Last Month (03/20/12 to 04/19/12) Facebook Insights: 1. Fan Growth: The basic parameter on social media starts with number of fans or likes on Facebook and a sizable number of fans are required to drive any kind of engagement on social media. IDBI bank is a clear winner in terms of fans with a growth rate of 19% in the last month. However ICICI Bank, although a late entry in joining social media, has shown tremendous growth and 34% increase of fan growth in the last month is a clear indicator of it.

Fan Growth 2. Conversations: This is a parameter which Facebook reveals on every brand page which is small indicator that tells how many people are talking to the brand at any given point. However, the number is quite broad but has been a valuable indicator apart from just the number of ‘Likes’. The below image indicates that ICICI bank has 11.2% of conversations in the last month and it also makes the bank as the most talked about amongst fans.

Conversations However, IDBI bank has some disappointing numbers here as on March 20, 2012 it had 15,8066 people talking but it has gone down to 5531 by April 19, 2012. The below image shows the downfall and I think that brands should be doing a bit of brainstorming to find out the reason and how it could improve upon it.

IDBI Fan Growth Vs Number of talking about 3. Engagement: The above insights might have given a clear indication that ICICI bank even though has been a new entry in the social media space but has been doing great. ICICI bank is also the most engaged bank on Facebook and HDFC bank is the second most engaged bank as shown in the below image.

Engagement 4. Sentiment: Most of the brands in service sector keep away from social media because of criticism. However, here too ICICI bank is the clear winner with the most (net) positive sentiments, which is close to 50% and HDFC bank, which attracted the most number of posts from fans, had the maximum percentage of negative sentiments.

Sentiment Twitter Insights: 1. Followers: @IDBI_Bank is a clear winner in this space like Facebook and it has also shown the highest growth potentiality on Twitter. The below image says it clearly and no other bank is close to it.

Followers 2. Frequency of Reply: Unmetric divides Tweets into three categories – 1) Retweets 2) Replies and 3) Proactive Tweets. @ICICIBank_Care, which is using Twitter as customer care, has been really successful, as the brand has used Twitter as a conversational platform. Out of 375 tweets that were tweeted by the brand, all of them were replies or mentions to its community on Twitter.

Frequency 3. Average Reply Time: Twitter is all about conversations and average reply time is a very important parameter on which brands are measured. @HDFCBank_Offers leads when it comes to replying to its community on Twitter and @ICICIBank_Care takes the longest in responding to queries. If brands are using Twitter as a customer query resolving platform then the average reply time should be really quick and must be real-time.

Average Reply Time 4. Sentiments: @HDFCBank_Offers, which is the quickest in replying on Twitter, has the best (net) positive sentiments close to 70% and @IDBI_Bank has attracted more number of negative sentiments amongst all banks.

Sentiment Key Takeaways:  IDBI bank has definitely a bigger community on Facebook and Twitter but it needs to think on increasing the engagement levels on social media.  ICICI bank, although a new entry is the most engaged bank on Facebook but the brand needs to have a better Twitter marketing strategy.  HDFC bank has a better Twitter engagement with the quickest response time on Twitter and also the most positive Indian bank on Twitter but fails to impress on Facebook.

I think there is no clear winner on social media amongst the Indian banks as of now, as all of these banks are evolving in terms of engagement and customer service on social media. One can’t label oneself as the leader in social media based on just the number of likes or followers. It is how you drive that community to your objective. It is always better to have an engaged community rather than having a huge community with no one to respond. What are your thoughts on how Indian banks are faring on social media. For me there is no clear winner and it will take some more time for them to be happening on social media.

Why HDFC is No.1 Among Indian Banks for Social Media Practice
Filed under Social Media Insightsno comments
Indian banking industry is booming & is on expansion spree. Indian banks contributed 1.7 per cent to the total global brand value at US$ 14.74 billion and grew by 19 per cent in 2011 as per the annual international ranking conducted by UK-based Brand Finance Plc. According to a recent study done by Buzzom.com, Indian banks whether government or private have started using social media to stay in touch with their customers but HDFC stands out as far as leveraging social media is concerned both in terms of number of channels being used as well as engaging with their customers.

As per the graph above HDFC Bank has presence across 8 social media channels out of which the prominent presence is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Youtube & their official blog. Important aspect is the engagement which they do on all these channels. Facebook HDFC’s page on facebook generates admirable feedback from users which serves as a ground for them to understand their fans as well as promote their banking products. They have a money matters section where they provide interesting recent financial news of interest to their fans. Also they keep on engaging the users with interesting puzzles/jigsaws based upon financial terms.

Twitter HDFC’s twitter approach is build upon again like their facebook approach on sharing interesting & relevant information with their followers, asking them interesting puzzles, sharing new products & deals from their stable and so on. No wonder that they have a healthy follower count of 1300+ which is growing on the daily basis.

Youtube HDFC lacks on its Youtube marketing aspect and needs to learn from other banks like ICICIwhich is the second most active bank on social media in India. Although HDFC has created some great commercials for their television audience which have found their way on Youtube also and these commercials have large viewership on Youtube too but they need to leverage Youtube by posting such videos regularly on their channel & promoting it further. Here is one such video with almost half a million views so far: LinkedIn

HDFC Bank’s company page on LinkedInhas more than 13,000 followers. They haven’t leveraged this platform to its full potential yet like they can display their products on their page on which they can get recommendation from the users which will serve as a live testimonial but still having a presence on LinkedIn is being helpful to them as the company stats & employees list can be browsed through to get interesting information about them. Here’s a very good graph showing the comparison of different Indian banks on social media which clearly out states the leadership of HDFC bank in this domain:

The number of people using Social media platforms is constantly on rise. Facebook alone has more than 500 million active users with average user having 130 friends, and people spending over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.Considering this increase in the number of social media users, businesses must leverage social media communities to track online conversations about their brand and to interact with their customers. Being a completely customer driven segment, banks need to be in constant touch with their customers, and social media can act as a great channel of communication for them. Here are some of the ways banks can use social media: • • • •
Drive awareness about a new product or service Engage with customers Post job opportunities and attract high quality candidates for jobs. Gauge its performance in the industry, identify areas of improvement and foster innovation

To analyze how Indian Banking Industry is leveraging social media, Simplify360 conducted a study of some leading banks in the private and public sector. Some of the banks being studied in the private category were HDFC Bank,ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Citi Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ING Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank etc. Public sector had banks like SBI, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and several others. These are some interesting findings of the study: The most active Bank on Social Media: Different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogs maintained by these banks, were studied to calculate the results. Among private sector banks HDFC was found to be most active one, with a social media grade of 3.06 on the scale of 5, and SBI ranked high in the public sector with the grade of 1.68. Private sector Banks are more active: The results revealed that the public sector banks are lagging behind the private sector ones when it comes to the using social media for engaging with customers and marketing products and services. ICICI rules online conversations: When it came to online conversations about banks, it was found that ICCI was being talked about by social media users of different age groups, while SBI was only found in the conversations of users in the age group of early 20s and early 30s. Overall, the study indicated that, though banks are using social media tools, most of them are yet to understand the benefits of social media in the banking sector.

The profit pool of the Indian banking industry is probable to augment from US$ 4.8 billion in 2005 to US$ 20 billion in 2010, and further to US$ 40billion by 2015, with increasing wealth generating population. Almost 98% of the working population in India is said to have a bank account by the year 2015. With Social Media sites becoming the most visited online platform, it is imperative for businesses to listen to their customers in social media communities. Being a completely customer driven segment, banks need to be in constant touch with their customers. Social Media can act as a great channel of communication not just for promoting new schemes, but also for listening to the needs of the customers. Unfortunately, banking sector in India has still not explored the power of social media. Only a couple of banks are present in social media sphere, and their engagement and activity level still needs a lot of work. Simplify360 conducted an analytical study of Indian Banking Industry in the social media space and came up with some interesting data that tells us which banks are leveraging social media tools, and which ones are doing well in the social media space. For the study, individual banks were researched over the internet to find their social media reach. The banks were categorized into National Banks and Private Banks, and were scored on various parameters using statistical analysis. Based on their scores, different banks were plotted against each other to measure their engagement level across social media channels. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Youtube were some of the networking sites being used for the study. The Interactive Level measures the engagement of banks in the social media space, while the Number of Channels measures the number of social networking sites used by the banks. Given below are some of the findings of the research. Nationalized Banks

The banks being studied in the nationalized category are – State Bank of India, Bank Of Baroda, Bank Of India,Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab National Bank, Allahabad Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab & Sind Bank,Bank Of Maharashtra, IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Dena Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank. Based on the graph, only SBI seems to have

more social media reach and high engagement level. But you will notice later that it is very low in terms of how private banks are performing in the social media. Private Banks

The banks being studied in the private category are – American Express, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Citi Bank, South Indian Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ING Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, City Union Bank,Karnataka Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Federal Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Karur Vysya Bank and Syndicate Bank. The graph above shows that HDFC is doing a great job in managing multiple online social profiles and at the same time engaging with customers. However, other banks are very low in terms of social media reach and engagement. The study indicates that, though there are some banks that are using social media tools, most of them are yet to understand the value of social media engagement. Want to know more about this research conducted by Simplify360? Check out this Slideshare presentation of the report.

Perspective number 1: 50% of India is unbanked. The other 50% is only interested in a transactional relationship with their bank. Expanding that to a public relationship conducted over social media is to only invite trouble, of the negative publicity variety. Indian banks, steer clear! Perspective number 2: 50% of India is unbanked. But the other 50% is evolving rapidly, embracing electronic channels, using new technologies like the Internet and mobile, and becoming more demanding each day. What's more, half the population is below the age of 30 and completely at ease with social media. Indian banks, dive in! Rather like the "glass is half full/half empty" argument isn't it? But although they may have many reasons for remaining cool to social media - ranging from a lack of understanding to fear of backlash to worries about overstepping regulatory boundaries - Indian banks will have to overcome their conservatism and embrace this medium.

They have no choice. Facebook has over 800 million users. While the Indian subscription was only 46 million (as at December 2011), it had jumped 132% in the space of a year. LinkedIn gains a new Indian member every second. These are people who rely on social media for product recommendations and price comparisons, to understand which brand is hot (and not), and to communicate with service providers. They want, nay expect, their bank to be available through the same channel. Globally, some banks have taken the lead in establishing their social media presence. Wells Fargo and its Stagecoach Island community are well known. Citibank is live on the social web. Even small community banks in the U.S. are engaging customers on popular social networks. Social media has given these banks not just a way to come closer to their community, and reestablish trust but also position themselves as a "tech-savvy", progressive brand with youth appeal. Why should it be any different for Indian banks? It's time to fill the glass!

YES BANK’s innovative Social Media contest on the magical number “7”
Prizes include Blackberry Smartphones Mumbai, July 31, 2012: YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector Bank is expanding its presence on the social media through an innovative and content rich engagement. As an extension of the highly effective “7%” savings account interest rate campaign, YES BANK has launched an entertainment quiz on Facebook called “Saat Ka Sikander”, which revolves around super hit Hindi and English movies with direct reference to the number “7”. The quiz will feature hit films like Satte pe Satta, 6 days & 7 nights, Woh Saat Din, etc. where participants can win exciting prizes like Blackberry smartphones. To participate in this engaging contest, log on to https://www.facebook.com/YESBANK/app_181253662008145 In October 2011, YES BANK was the first Bank in India to introduce the highest interest rate offer on Saving Account of “7%” for NRI and Indian residents (for above Rs. 100,000.00), which was very well received.

List of 17 Indian banks in the global 500 : Brand Finance PLC, UK based brand valuation company has released the BrandFinance Global Ranking 500. This list gives a comprehensive list of all the banks across the world with the rankings based on their methodology. The methodology is more toward brand related and is not based on market valuations alone 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. State Bank of India ICICI Bank HDFC Bank Punjab National Bank Bank of India Canara Bank Bank of Baroda Axis Bank

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

Kotak Bank Union Bank of India Indian Overseas Bank IDBI Bank Limited State Bank of Patiala Indian Bank Power Finance Corp Oriental Bank of Commerce Syndicate Bank