Hong Kong - Financial Services Industry Info-graphic Stats - 2004 - 2010

Interactive Info-graphic of the Financial Service Industry for Hong Kong. Please see the details for the categories as follows: -

• Banking - Licensed Bank, Restricted Banks, Deposit Taking companies, Local Representative Offices
• Insurance - General Insurers, Life Insurers, Insurance Agents/Brokers
• Other Financial Services Industry - Investment and holding companies, Stock and share companies, Asset Management Companies, Financial Leasing Credit Granting companies etc.

Powered by Tableau

I am a Bank and I am Boring

The below article was published in Qatar Today magazine- Jan 2012 issue. The article is about how can banks manage customer relationships online without just talking about banking and being innovative. Click on the below pics to continue reading.

"Text Version" 

 I am a Bank; Iam Boring

Financial Institutions are perceived to be not innovative and creative when it comes to Online Media and technology. Due to certain regulations and reputation issues, they have been a step behind other industries to make their presence felt online.

Let us explore few ideas that can help you gain foothold in the Online Conversations and interact with your customers.

I recently attended a panel discussion, where a question was raised on how to deal with customer issues raised on your social media channels. Panelists were convinced on the methodology of trying to contact the customer to get details of the problem and acknowledge the issue. Post understanding the issue, commit on resolving the same.

What if your bank’s customer service still gets criticized online even though you have taken efforts to engage with your customers online? Well, then you have to investigate the case and invest in enhancing your customer service. Online media is just another channel to communicate with your customer.

A few more ideas: -

Don’t just talk about banking

If you expect to build a relationship with your customer, you need to talk about various other topics that can build a conversation on social networking sites. If a customer needs to know about your products and offers, they can always go to your public website.

You can use Social Media tools to change the mean and greedy perception of Financial Institutions.

Check out Lloyds Bank Facebook Page. They are talking about the upcoming London Olympics with a countdown ticker. This has got nothing to do with banking. These initiatives create friendly online conversation and interaction that may not be facilitated by a bank otherwise.

Be a Startup Mentor

Have you ever thought about nourishing the potential young talent to form large enterprises? How about offering some advice on launching a start up? A bank has the financial capability and the expertise to mentor start ups. Use your online channels to give tips to people interested in learning more about the enterprise world. Your investment banking arm may probably fund the next Google or Apple.

Show you CSR initiatives.

Have you done something for the community, how about informing people via your Social Media Channels? Do you want volunteers for a CSR initiative, ask for it on your Social Media Channels and watch the response. Check out the Bank of America Page, asking for people who would like to volunteer for their “Building Opportunity” initiative.

Many financial institutions are involved in charity initiatives that go unnoticed. Their projects are not covered in the media and an average customer is not aware about these initiatives. Social Networks are great online tools to tell your customers about these projects and strengthen your brand.

Giveaways for your Online Fans

Customers love participating in competitions. This initiative encourages them to follow your brand online. Host a few competitions for your Social Media Channel Fans. Check out the Citi Bank Facebook page. They are giving an opportunity for their fans to win cash or jam with their favorite band.

How about offering your online fans a $ discount or a coupon to dine at their favorite restaurant.

I wanted to get a feel on what do people expect from their banks in Doha on Social Media Channels. Following is a summarized version of various comments I got from people on Twitter in Doha.

People expect their bank to be more interactive and provide online support for issues. They want instant answers to their queries and special offers for following/liking the brand. Many twitteratis complained that the banks never responded to their queries. Surprisingly, few of them replied that they were not interested in having a conversation with their bank on social networks, as banks are only meant to manage their money, not their relationship. There lies an opportunity for the banks to show that they can manage human relationships and just not financial ones.

Online surveillance of social-networking sites is a new trend for traders dealing in hedge funds and big banks managing customer assets. Stocktwits is a social, stock micro-blogging service monitoring emotions of stock market traders. You will find a community of traders and investors sharing market insight, ideas, charts and news streaming in real-time. This is true engagement of Financial Marketing with Online Media. An investment company, Derwent Capital Markets, has launched a £25 million hedge fund that will use the sentiment of Twitter messages to help guide its trading strategy

As we look forward to 2012, Financial Institution will continue to heavily invest in the Social Media and Interactive Marketing, and work on the revenues.

There is a strong possibility of structural changes in many organizations, where by Digital Channels, e-Marketing and e-Business will fall under one umbrella.

Virtual Online Banks for Social Networks

The scope of the article covers banks for social networks and not Internet Banking.

Many banks have realized the potential of online social engagement; however, most of them are reluctant to connect with customers online. The concept of virtual online websites is not getting any younger. The realm of social media or online social engagement is growing with an estimated value of US 10 million in 2010 as estimated by Engage Digital Media.

In 2009 Mashable had reported that a user of Entropia Universe – an online virtual engagement website – bought a virtual space station for US $ 330,000. This transaction is registered in the Guinness book of world records as the most expensive virtual world.

People have got used to making online payments for goods on Internet and conducting their daily transactions via electronic channels. The comfort level now extends to social networking sites, where users are paying for virtual goods, and this builds a case for introducing financial services.

The scope of innovation in the world of online payment market is extensive. Once extended to virtual online world the scope is challenging. Some of the existing websites in the online social engagement world that facilitate financial transactions are: -

• Facebook, Secondlife, Entropia Universe – Purchase of Virtual goods 
• Purchase of Online Services – Facebook - Qtel Mobile Top up
• Online Social Lending – Virgin Money, Kiva

The above examples are an insight to various business opportunities that are yet to materialize. 

Mind Ark, the company which runs the Entropaia Universe became the first company to issue virtual banking licenses to real world banks in 2007. In March 2009, the Swedish Financial Authority, granted license to Mind Bank AB, that will allow it to function as a central bank for all the virtual world’s within Entropia Universe. Mind Bank will be able to process real money transactions for activities in the virtual world.

During my research, I came across an application on Facebook that allows users to perform financial transactions - Fiserv's MyMoney, a US based app, which is now only available to credit unions, and may be offered to banks in the near future. Facebook users download the application, which helps them to find and join a credit union, view account history, balances, and make transfers.

Banks are experimenting with this space but are yet to come out with a firm working model. Expecting a ROI on spend is not the way forward, as Social Media is still in its infancy stage.

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.