How "Social" is Your Bank?

Have you ever seen your bank using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or any other new social media?

I find this question very interesting, relevant and important because banking industry is one of the bigest businesses that have a great impact on our daily lives - for instance, lets just look at the global financial-economic crisis that is going on for the past few years where banks are mostly responsible for it. Their influence on society is undisputedly seen and enormous. But are they using new communication tools/digital processes to communicate with their stakeholders which spend great deal of their time on social networks?

With a little help of Google I found an interesting article about "social banking" or how a bank should use advantages of new media to regain the lost trust and to change their conventional business model from transactional model to engagement model.

Here are some main emphasises on this new media model banking:

How Could Banks Increase Transactions?

Think about what lies within the system of banking: people and businesses. Now, do banks do anything to “connect” people and businesses to facilitate transactions amongst and between people and businesses? When was the last time your bank actually helped you do the following:

1. Solve a problem not having to do with a transaction
2. Introduced you or your business to others who may need your product or service
3. Provided you with new information or knowledge that helped you or your business be more productive
4. Helped you or your business grow revenue, besides lending money for you to do it yourself
5. Helped you find relevant and relative resources that you need

The answer to these questions is a bank simply doesn't do any of these things, at least not consistently and as a regular part of their relations with customers.

What Would a “Social Bank” Do?

If banks would take advantage of social technology they could in fact create a “new system” that fueled transactions. Banks could set up a “social network” exclusively for banking customers to create profiles about who they are and what they do as well as a listing of their products and services. Banks could establish a “community” for customers to integrate their social media which would create a “digital marketplace” of conversations. The conversations could be tagged and categorized by interest and customers could find answers to the above 5 questions. Answers to these questions represent a “marketplace” which in the end creates an exchange of value requiring more transactions.

All positive opportunities for banks and customers are gathered in the next chart:

I like and support this idea of "social bank" what about you? Do you agree with transfering old businesses to new media?

(link to the article: http://socialmediatoday.com/jderagon/110884/how-%E2%80%9Csocial%E2%80%9D-your-bank)