Aussie banks warming to Twitter

By Vanessa Tripodi

You probably have a Facebook account, but is your bank one of your top friends? How about your Twitter follower list - are the tweets of your bank or credit card supplier tagged so you don't miss their broadcasts? You send out tweets to your tweeps. You have hash tags, ampersands and etiquette rules to get your head around, all in 140 characters or less. Yes, this is Twitter, but what does it have to do with your bank? The Better Banking and Visible Banking blogs have been compiling and updating their listings of banks, bankers and financial institutions that have jumped on one of the most recent social media bandwagons. So, what have these financial watchers found?

Since The Better Banking Blog started a list of tweeting banks and financial institutions in April, many more have signed up for an official Twitter account. Recent additions to the Twitter community include Aussie Home Loans, Savings & Loans and PayPal. ANZ bank is also planning to launch a Twitter account specifically for customer complaints and enquiries at http://twitter.com/ANZ_responds. However, not all Aussie banks are getting the hang of Twitter. For example, Bank West launched their account in July 2009, posted a number of blatantly self-promoting tweets and promptly disappeared in August the same year. Westpac seems to be struggling with social media too; after creating http://twitter.com/Westpac_help in February, they are yet to broadcast any help to their over 200 followers.

The number of people who have become Westpac followers, despite having nothing to follow, is indicative of the importance banking customers place on timely, honest and effective communication with their financial institutions. Because that is really the basis of Twitter, to connect simply and quickly with people wherever they are, share your news, offer your advice and then go about your day. So, you can see why banks have tried to get in on this phenomenon, and why their customers are waiting with bated breath.

Twitter can be enormously effective for business as it allows you to gain real-time feedback in an honest and upfront environment. You can show your customers who you really are and find out what they really want from you, allowing you to build and strengthen your business and professional relationships like never before. However, the key to Twitter and other social media is integrity. If you don't respond to a customer's tweet, if you hire a high school kid to respond to your followers or if you use the medium to blow your own trumpet, people will stop listening.

Twitter is also a free social media platform, which is also free of advertising, so unlike Facebook, where you will see banks using banner ads to reach their younger clientele, Twitter is all about the interaction, the service and the experience. That's not to say Facebook isn't powerful in the financial sector - 115,000 Australians joined the "I Hate $2 Fees at ATMs" Facebook group and in the UK in 2007 over 4,000 students rallied to the "Stop the Great HSBC Graduate Rip-Off" group. The result for HSBC and the outraged students was not only a mound of negative PR, but also the abandonment of the planned "rip-off."

Despite the disasters and the threats inherent for banks opening themselves up to full transparency on a social media network, Facebook and Twitter can be powerful tools for banks to research and respond to the people who keep them in business in the first place.

Article by Vanessa Tripodi 

Published: September 24, 2009