Asia accounts for the highest growth rates and usage on Social Media networks. India and Indonesia are the 2nd and 3rd largest Facebook populations, after the US.
Whilst some Asian Banks are dabbling in Social Media, they are far behind their peers in US, UK and Australia who are actively using Twitter, Facebook, Linked in, Youtube, and other Social platforms to actively listen to and engage with their customers, seek product suggestions and ideas, marketing, customer service, and even close sales.
So we have created an Asian Retail Banking Social Media Index, that analyses Asian Banks websites and activities on Facebook and Twiiter. We have also include some foreign banks who lead when it comes to being social online with their customers and it’s not suprising that Wells Fargo tops the Index, Wells Fargo has been a leader in the online space and has a dedicated social media team and the experience to fully leverage the benefits of social media.
So why aren’t Asian banking more social? This question was hot topic this week at Hong Kong’s “Technology & Innovation – The Future of Banking & Financial Services” Conference. The debate centred around the risks, the need of control as well as local regulators failing to understand the medium.
US regulators have been dealing with the issue for some years as Banks entered into social media to open dialogue, build communities and businesses on social platforms. The US regulators have also posted guidelines to the use of Social media by US Banks.
HSBC Hong Kong has the highest social interest score among Asian Banks even though that don’t actively use Facebook and Twitter. However, the content on their website, hsbc.com.hk, is enabled for sharing on social media sites. There are 848 facebook likes for HSBC’s pages in their HK site as well as 228 tweets linking to the HSBC HK site.
Please read our tips on how banks can get started with social media.