Interview: "Should Banks Bother With Social Media?", PYMNTS.com

Should Banks Bother With Social Media?

An interview with me at PYMNTS.COM:

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Despite concerns about regulation and loss of control, Robert Roessler of MHP Communications argues that social media initiatives are no longer an option for FIs – but a necessity. He shared with PYMNTS.com his views on the specific benefits social media – both for revenue and product innovation – and weighs in on the key debate: should your employees have access to social networking sites at work?
Published 9 December 2011, read the full article here:https://www.pymnts.com/news/2012/should-banks-bother-with-social-media//

Blog post: "Should banks really bother with social media?"

For banks, using social media is a relatively new and challenging concept. The industry is heavily regulated, and yet there is uncertainty how regulation actually affects financial institutions’ social media efforts. The FSA guidelines for example are – to say the least – brief and vague. The suitability of social media as a method of communication has therefore been heavily debated for many years, leading to a growing void between banks and other more social media-friendly corporations. In addition, the majority of banks ban social media platforms from office desktops.
However, banks have now started to realise that they have to embrace social media to catch up with other industries – despite unclear regulation and a perceived loss of control over stories. These are some of the key findings of our recent survey amongst heads of communications and PR managers at global banks. This increasing interest is not only for banks to engage with customers. Employees feel entitled to use and access social media in their professional lives. According to research by internet security company Clearswift 26% of employees would be de-motivated by a stricter policy on social networking introduced by their employers and 14% would try to work around the rules. 3% would even consider leaving (presumably having first tried scouring LinkedIn to find a new job).
This does not have to be the route for banks. There are now a range of successful and compelling examples of how they can benefit from opening up to social media and planning engagement programmes. First Direct’s Little Black Book project is one, Wells Fargo’s use of social media to improve customer service is another. Many more banks will follow their approach, and this will be a matter of time only. And, certainly, of clearer regulation.

Appeared on MHP blog: http://www.mhpc.com/blog/should-banks-really-bother-social-media

Blog post: "Cash in or cash out?"

Once everyone’s darling, the fall of cash has been spectacular. Take last year’s announcement from a telecoms provider and supermarkets in the Netherlands stopping accepting cash payments, for example. Or the survey commissioned by the UK Payments Council that concludes that “by 2050, using cash could well be a minority activity [... and] a progressive move away from cash could hold many benefits.”
There is a point to this. Reports claim that cash costs every person in Europe 130 EUR a year for creating, distributing, collecting and destroying coins and notes. There are other downsides: 25 per cent of employees in Swedish retailers have been victims of violence during robberies, and there are calls to end the use of cash for theft prevention purposes. And obviously cash is a non-digital asset which cannot be spent on online purchases.
Mobile payments are therefore seen as the “new cash” and the way forward to bridge offline and online worlds. With more than 4 billion mobile phone users globally and only 1.6 billion bank accounts, the market opportunity is huge. Juniper predicts that 50 billion USD in worldwide sales revenue will be generated by Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments by 2014. PayPal expects that its volume of payments processed via mobile devices will exceed 3 billion USD this year. The company also predicts that by 2015, consumers will be able to leave their wallets at home as digital currencies replace traditional payment methods.
However there is some way to go. Research found that 90% of UK consumers have not heard of NFC, and more than two thirds have not come across the term “mobile wallet”. The technology and business case may be in place, but whether it’s time to cash out or not is still up for debate.

Appeared on MHP blog: http://www.mhpc.com/blog/cash-or-cash-out

The bankers are back in town

Actually they were back in Amsterdam last week, where they attended SIBOS, the biggest global gathering of financial services providers. And SIBOS was in a happy mood this year. Officially, there were 8,700 participants (an impressive 3,200 more than in 2009 when SIBOS took place in Hong Kong), 209 exhibitors and 175 speakers. All of them were positive and upbeat, you could see a lot of new business coming through and media interest was lively, with more than 100 journalists in attendance. Everyone was keen to agree that cloud computing changes the way banks operate, Basel III actually means something this time and that the Germans should finally stop complaining about the European payments system Sepa because it's too late now.
SIBOS also was in an appy mood. You could see a number of onsite demos such as peterevans' Simply app, the UK's first self-execution stockbroking application, and quite a few people predict that this is just the start of a new era. And some were right in saying that when you see such amazing apps, all the non-virtual stuff is suddenly much less exciting. SIBOS 2010 also debuted its first dedicated panel on social networking. Needless to say the room was packed. As conservative as it is, the industry has started talking about new media at last, and it'll be interesting to see how things develop over the years to come.
You could say that SIBOS is an indicator of the health of the banking industry, and this year it appeared in rude health. According to official records, 4,518 full week passes were sold for SIBOS 2010. With each full week pass coming in at 2,800 EUR, this is some very nice revenue for SWIFT, the conference organiser. But we know it's worth it when you get something out of it. And everyone got something out of it indeed: participants got a feeling of optimism, exhibitors got plenty of leads, speakers got plenty of attention and cab drivers got away with their random pricing of fares.

Appeared on MHP blog: http://www.mhpc.com/blog/bankers-are-back-town