Friday, July 2, 2010

Are Banks Monitoring Conversations Online?

On 17th June @ sandeepgeetla tweeted the below rumour which led to a slide in the ICICI shares by
3.5 % in the intra day trading hours, however within hours the stock price recovered due to prompt action by the bank. This info was published in Business Standard on 24th June.
ICICI bank is known to monitor 3-5k tweets per day via its Twitter handler @icici_care. The bank also monitors online conversations on Facebook, Blogs and other social mediums, to help stop rumors.
The bank responded to the user on twitter as follows:-
@sandeepgeetla These r baseless rumours abt ICICI Bank, request u to not pay heed to them & also not spread them further…”
ICICI has gone ahead and filed a complaint against the person with the cyber crime cell of the police and market watchdog SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India)
How about the banks in GCC – do they monitor conversations online? Some of the banks that are active on Twitter in GCC are: -
  • @DubaiBankAE
  • @arabbankgroup
  • @rakbanklive
  • @ithmaarbank – Bahrain
  • @Gulf_bank - Kuwait
@Rakbanklive is interactive and they do listen to customer complaints/feedback. But, how many banks in GCC monitor Social Media Conversations?
Check the screen shot below taken from a popular forum in UAE, where a customer is complaining about a bad experience with a bank : -
The person may have had a bad experience with the bank but may be was never heard. However, he has found the web to share his experience with people. 
What is the Impact of such online posts.....
  • One bad customer experience would cost the bank many others
  • Does the bank know about this post?
  • Is it a competitor bank spreading the rumor?
There are many groups on Facebook, where customers share their experiences with other potential bank customers, which does influence choices to an extent. Many people resort to share their personal experience about anything on the web as it is a feasible medium to voice their opinion. This makes many bank's vulnerable to online abuse, as some of these opinions may be rumors, proving that bank's need to have online monitoring tools.

Many banks have Internal Communication Departments who monitor print media for news but discount online conversations. What can a bank do to minimize the impact?
  • Have a communications team to monitor online conversations and tackle rumors/complaints
  • Hire a PR agency that can monitor the web 24x7
  • Have a strong e-Marketing team that can create a positive perception of your brand online
Having an online presence is a must but tackling rumors/complaints is a challenge. The banks will have to bear the brunt of online conversations if they continue to ignore this medium. Online conversations will make or break customer relations in the future as more and more people seek feedback from peers on the web.

4 comments:

  1. Good post..and an excellent insight for many bankers..who ignore online comments..

    Priya Ram

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every one has the right to voice their opinion online...but how can bank's control these posts online?

    Rachel Stuart

    ReplyDelete
  3. After the bank is done creating communications teams, monitoring online conversations 24x7, hiring PR agencies and creating e-marketing teams--perhaps the bank should then take a few steps to address the expressed grievance. It will cost nothing and might obviate the need for all of the former.

    ReplyDelete
  4. After the bank is done creating communications teams, monitoring online conversations 24x7, hiring PR agencies and creating e-marketing teams--perhaps the bank should then take a few steps to address the expressed grievance. It will cost nothing and might obviate the need for all of the former.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin