A social future for banks – the first direct debate

Today I participated in a First Direct-sponsored debate on the present and future of social media in Financial Services.

It was a great session where some of the industry’s smartest minds shared our thoughts, debated and answered live questions from interested parties via Twitter. We all agreed there is a great opportunity for Financial Services companies to adopt social media as a way to get closer to customers and that this opportunity may reach beyond traditional customer service and complain handling. Who knows, is this the time we finally put the customer at the centre of all we do?

Below you can find the live Twitter stream in the original timeline order (please start reading from the bottom!). The debate was recorded and a video will be made available on Friday – come back then to find it here!

Phew session over! – right I’m off for a lay down and to put my fingers in and ice bath! #first_direct #smwldn

The debate has finished! – the first video of the session will be available by Friday – we’ll give you more info soon #smwldn #first_direct

RH – I think it makes sense to test and learn, but take things slowly #first_direct #smwldn

@stuart_d At the moment there are about 200 journalists and social commentators following fd on twitter #first_direct #smwldn

CF – get your interations right you’ll have a fan forever get it wrong and the opposite could be true #first_direct #smwldn

CF – relationship building is important – need to get the cust to love you to stay with you in the vastness of online #smwldn #first_direct

SW – we could get to the point where cust are on first name terms with their bank manager again all be it online #smwldn #first_direct

SW – tech changes will give co’s opportunity to rekindle relationships with their customers again #smwldn #first_direct

NC- biggest challenge for highstreet banks is thier size – it takes time to bring about large scale change #smwldn #first_direct

NC – fd feels the cust is at the heart of our brand – so not only going to help them, but letting them come to us wherever they are #smwldn

DL – sm puts power in to the hands of the cust, but this can be of benefit to the brand if you get it right #first_direct #smwldn

DL – Cust want us to be more proactive and sm is a perfect place to do this #first_direct #smwldn

TF – it’s clear banks fear upsetting cust, but if they’re brave and do it right they could gain more cust #smwldn #first_direct

TF – I think there can be a massive cost saving if banks do it right, but consumers won’t buy-in if done wrong #first_direct #smwldn

RH – my biggest lesson was that I almost killed it! But I gave it a chance without all the answers and it paid off #first_direct #smwldn

RH – have opportunity to get in early and shape our cust relationships using us #smwldn #first_direct

LL – what are the biggest opportunities in SM for the financial sectoer? #smwldn #first_direct

DL – you have to be clear what your account is for i.e. PR team not going too far nto cust services #smwldn #first_direct

CF – journalists tweet more so more PRs tweet now – it’s another dimension to sm strategy #first_direct #smwldn

RH – I think it’s a bit risky when business and pleasure gets mixed – we keep it seperate #smwldn #first_direct

CF – if choose one individual the danger is if they move on your brand moves with them – it shoudl be spread over a few key people #smwldn

CF – I think the brand should have its main branded a/c, but that key individuals should also have their own streams #smwldn #first_direct

TF – personality is key so the person responding should be an individual, but i recognise this is hard for bank #first_direct #smwldn

RH – I agree we need rules and regs, but we also need access to sm #smwldn #first_direct

RH – often those people who need to make the decision are not sm user, so they don’t understand other people are #smwldn #first_direct

NC – We have to protect the cust 1st and foremost, but the right people need access to both develop and respond #first_direct #smwldn

LL – young people go to work to use old fashioned technology – if block fb at work haw can you promote it with staff #smwldn #first_direct

NC- the legal profession needs to get up to speed and remove some of the hurdles #first_direct #smwldn

NC – it’s difficult to have 24/7 monitoring to check for inappropriate comment and internal teams don’t understand sm #first_direct #smwldn

CF – cust used to go to the press now they get online and complain about brands #smwldn #first_direct
2 hours ago

RH – we take it really seriously, but regs mean can’t go straight into sm to help them – I’d love to see that change #first_direct #smwldn

LL – it eems cust service is low on list of priorities – how are banks changing this? #first_direct #smwldn
2 hours ago

TF – @whereisrose I believe BofAmerica takes customer relations offline through an effective CRM model #first_direct #smwldn

DL – we had a marketing camp & wanted -ve exp to test how sm could help – cust felt more +ve with speedy response #first_direct #smwldn

NC – for us ROI can be demonstrated by the work we’ve done with CSR, but not quite at the same stage as RH #first_direct #smwldn

RH – asked people to pay game – 10{acc93bc4c50d705b6582df8463c6e78eab363e734bea58beb26f7f541e3e6037} of respondants gave us their details I feel that was a real success #first_direct #smwldn

LL – can anyone demonstrate any sm projects which show ROI?

NC – our philosophy is we hire cust service people then teach them banking #first_direct #smwldn

NC -asked what relationship cust want and they said rapport and a human element is very important before you get trust #first_direct #smwldn

RH – difficult to be relevant and demonstrate personality without a famous person heading it up #first_direct #smwldn

Q from @aden_76 can banks put personality before process? #smwldn #first_direct

CF – Mobile technology will change peoples’ perceptions of how they need to pay for things #first_direct #smwldn

NC – our cust are tech savvy and various ages e.g take up of iPhone App has been amazing #first_direct #smwldn

NC – for fd it’s recognising that our customers have a slightly different need #smwldn #first_direct

CF – but children are likely to bank with the same bank as their parents – for banking the barriers still ne to be broken down #first_direct

TF – emails have declined in 15 to 24 age bracket #first_direct #smwldn

LL – does the next generation really bank differently to their parents?

NC – taking things off line presents problem because need to ask people to DM you and your stream can get a bit dull! #smwldn #first_direct

DL – in real life it’s 121 in sm it’s many2many – that’s a challenge to brands especially banks #smwldn #first_direct

CF – communication is 2 way with sm and banks especially need to be aware of this – don’t want the hard sell #smwldn #first_direct

SW – 2 layers – people using to purchase and people using to manage life – brands need to be careful how they use it #smwldn #first_direct

RH – facebook is becoming the internet in retail #first_direct #smwldn

RH – consumers will come to expect brands to be in sm – if not careful banks will be on the wrong side of the fence #first_direct #smwldn

CF the FSA is definitely getting more involved in sm, but people are still unsure what the restrictions are #smwldn #first_direct

NC – at fd we’re getting more confident in sm space, but we always need to keep regulation in the back of our minds #first_direct #smwldn

Has the fear factor gone away? #first_direct #smwldn

CF comments – before brands were reticent to get involved with customer but that has changed in last few years

Are banks really using sm to interact with customers? #first_direct #smwldn

The panel has started! #first_direct #smwldn

Panel is just about to start present are Roberto Hortal (RH); Tom Flack (TF); David Lever (DL); Liz Lumley (LL)… #first_direct #smwldn

…Natalie Cowen (NC); Simon Ward (SW) and Clare Francis (CF) #first_direct #smwldn

Panel is just about to start present are Roberto Hortal (RH); Tom Flack (TF); David Lever (DL); Liz Lumley (LL)… #first_direct #smwldn

Panel debate – A Social Future for Banks starts at 12.45 as part of #smwldn. Post q’s at #first_direct and follow via @first_direct

What do YOU think? Where are the big opportunities? How does your bank or insurance company rate in their use of social media?