Social media has become an integral part of daily lives of majority of people that circulates news and information at fastest rate possible bypassing geographical boundaries and barriers within few minutes.
The penetration of social media among internet users has deepened to the extent that almost all major global business brands have opened official pages to network with their customers and showcase their latest services and products. Commercial banks are no exceptions.
Renowned banks and credit institutions have already signed up for social media. An article published by Banker News suggests that physical branches have lost their importance.
The increasing use of online payment services has changed the approach of bankers and social media owners, the article said. For instance, Facebook, one of the largest social media, has launched a pilot online shopping outlet and intends to expand it into online banking services in a bid to make account balance check and cash transfer possible via the online platform.
Examples
HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, G TBank, Wells Fargo, Citi Group and Bank of America are among the most well-known banks that have already started to offer various innovative services for their social media users. In fact, social media can serve as a promotion platform given the horizontal network of communication among users. If implemented correctly, such promotion activities can quickly spread within a large community of users.
Services
A wide range of services can be offered via social media platforms including collecting data on the clients’ demands, launching customer clubs, providing updated information on the services and products, surveys, online competitions, CSR activities and campaigns, recruitment, branding, confidence building and market development.
Iran Status
Modern banking has significantly been developing in recent years throughout the world, but in Iran, the industry has lagged, the article said. Only few Iranian banks have started to test the new waters, and their attempts have in many cases been inefficient, according to many experts. However, the path they have taken is the right one, though the pace of growth and conformity with rules, regulations and culture of the country is very slow. The Banker’s article suggests that fostering the required culture is the very first step, the lack of which could be attributed to the past failures.
