Case Study Of Hdfc Bank Ltd

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Professor (Banking & Finance)

& Consulting Editor, The IUP Journal of Bank Management

IBS Hyderabad

(A Constituent of IFHE-Deemed University)

India.

He can be reached at [email protected]/[email protected]/[email protected]

Contact No.9010620500

BANKING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS-A CASE STUDY OF HDFC BANK LTD [1] 

ABSTRACT

Indian banking industry is booming & is on expansion spree. Indian banks contributed 1.7 per cent to the total global brand value at US$ 14.74 billion and grew by 19 per cent in 2011 as per the annual international ranking conducted by UK-based Brand Finance Plc. According to a recent study done by Buzzom.com, Indian banks whether government or private have started using social media to stay in touch with their customers but HDFC stands out as far as leveraging social media is concerned both in terms of number of channels being used as well as engaging with their customers. [2] 

HDFC’s page on facebook generates admirable feedback from users which serves as a ground for them to understand their fans as well as promote their banking products.

HDFC’s twitter approach is build upon again like their facebook approach on sharing interesting & relevant information with their followers, asking them interesting puzzles, sharing new products & deals from their stable and so on. No wonder that they have a healthy follower count of 1300+ which is growing on the daily basis.

The present case study is intended to bring to light as to how the Indian Banks are faring On Social Media with special focus on the new age banks in general and the HDFC Bank, the leader in the space, in particular

The objective of the case is to study the need and importance of Social Media for the new age Banks in India and to highlight the practices being followed in this regard.

FULL CASE

About HDFC Bank

The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was amongst the first to receive an 'in principle' approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector, as part of the RBI's liberalisation of the Indian Banking Industry in 1994. The bank was incorporated in August 1994 in the name of 'HDFC Bank Limited', with its registered office in Mumbai, India. HDFC Bank commenced operations as a Scheduled Commercial Bank in January 1995. [3] 

Times Bank Limited (owned by Bennett, Coleman & Co. / Times Group) was merged with HDFC Bank Ltd., in 2000. This was the first merger of two private banks in India. Shareholders of Times Bank received 1 share of HDFC Bank for every 5.75 shares of Times Bank. In 2008 HDFC Bank acquired Centurion Bank of Punjab taking its total branches to more than 1,000. [4] 

HDFC Bank deals with three key business segments. - Wholesale Banking Services, Retail Banking Services, Treasury. It has entered the banking consortia of over 50 corporates for providing working capital finance, trade services, corporate finance, and merchant banking. It is also providing sophisticated product structures in areas of foreign exchange and derivatives, money markets and debt trading And Equity research. [5] 

HDFC Bank was the first bank in India to launch an International Debit Card in association with VISA (Visa Electron) and issues the MasterCard Maestro debit card as well. The Bank launched its credit card business in late 2001. By March 2009, the bank had a total card base (debit and credit cards) of over 13 million. The Bank is also one of the leading players in the "merchant acquiring" business with over 70,000 Point-of-sale (POS) terminals for debit / credit cards acceptance at merchant establishments. The Bank is positioned in various net based B2C opportunities including a wide range of internet banking services for Fixed Deposits, Loans, Bill Payments, etc. With Finest of Technology and Best of Man power in Banking Industry HDFC BANK's retail services have become by and large the best in India and since the contribution to CASA i.e. total number of current and savings account of more than 50%, HDFC BANK has full potential to become India’s No.1 Private Sector Bank. [6] 

As of June 30, 2012, the Bank’s distribution network was at 2,564 branches and 9,709 ATMs in 1,416 cities as against 2,111 branches and 5,998 ATMs in 1,111 cities as of June 30, 2011. [7] 

The Bank’s total balance sheet size increased by 25.9% from ` 285,942 crores as of June 30, 2011, to ` 360,001 crores as of June 30, 2012. Total net advances as of June 30, 2012, were ` 213,338 crores, an increase of 21.5% over June 30, 2011. The mix of loans between the retail and wholesale segments was 52:48 as on June 30, 2012, as against 54:46 as on March 31, 2012. Total deposits were at ` 257,531 crores, an increase of 22.0% over June 30, 2011. Savings deposits grew 18.4% to ` 76,674 crores and current deposits grew 7.4% to ` 41,682 crores. With the term deposits growth at 29.4%, the CASA ratio was at 46.0% of total deposits as at June 30, 2012. [8] 

BACKGROUND OF HDFC BANK

Promoted in 1995 by Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), India's leading housing finance company, HDFC Bank is one of India's premier banks providing a wide range of financial products and services to its over 18 million customers across hundreds of Indian cities using multiple distribution channels including a pan-India network of branches, ATMs, phone banking, net banking and mobile banking. Within a relatively short span of time, the bank has emerged as a leading player in retail banking, wholesale banking, and treasury operations, its three principal business segments. [9] 

The bank is committed to maintain the highest level of ethical standards, professional integrity, corporate governance and regulatory compliance. HDFC Bank's business philosophy is based on four core values: Operational Excellence, Customer Focus, Product Leadership and People

The bank's competitive strength clearly lies in the use of technology and the ability to deliver world-class service with rapid response time. Over the years, the bank has successfully gained market share in its target customer franchises while maintaining healthy profitability and asset quality.

Leading Indian and international publications have recognized the bank for its performance and quality.

Awards & Milestones

HDFC Bank began operations with a simple mission: to be a "World-class Indian Bank" with single-minded focus on product quality and service excellence. Today, we are proud to say that we are well on our way towards that goal.

Some key milestones achieved along the way:

The Bank is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (BSE) and The National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) with the approximate market capital of $18.3 Billion

One of the first Indian Bank to be listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (symbol 'HDB') in 2001 & also listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (ISIN No US40415F2002) in 2008

Fitch Ratings India Pvt. Ltd. (100% subsidiary of Fitch Inc.) has assigned the "AAA (ind)" rating to HDFC Bank Ltd

HDFC Bank Ltd is also among the Fab 50 companies in Forbes list

HDFC Bank Ltd was also awarded as the "Best Domestic Bank" by Asia Money

India's 10 "Most Admired Company" by Wall Street Journal

FACTORS CRITICAL FOR SUCCESS OF HDFC BANK

1. Optimum use of new technology.

2. The ability to deliver world-class service with rapid response time.

3. Their business philosophy is based on four core values - Customer Focus, Operational Excellence, Product Leadership and People. They believe that the ultimate identity and success of their bank will reside in the exceptional quality of our people and their extraordinary efforts. For this reason, they are committed to hiring, developing, motivating and retaining the best people in the industry.

CORE COMPETENCY

• Innovative Practices and Solutions

• Customer given top priority, viewed as an "opportunity"

• Strong & Efficient Leadership both at formal and informal levels in the organization

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength

1) Innovative practices followed – with respect to giving the front management the tools to deal with adverse situations efficiently, a formal and systematic feedback mechanism is followed which further helps in augmenting the capability and hassle free procedures help to win customers.

2) Customer oriented – customer given the top priority, all the systems, processes and even the personal involved are trained and designed to serve the customer better. Customer viewed as an "opportunity".

3) No employer- employee relationship – the working environment is such that all the issues are dealt with as if a family matter, going the extra mile to give that personal touch

Weakness

1) The major weakness being that HDFC being the largest financial institution has a weak advertising base. If it strengthens this base also its business will multiply manifold.

2) Should workout to cut down on its rate of interest in order to eliminate stiff competition from SBI, ICICI, and LICHF etc.

Opportunities

1) Immense opportunity lies in the field of extending its financial services and guidance to areas of construction like water supply, sanitation, roads etc as these will be generating huge businesses in the future

2) With migration of rural population to the urban areas, heavy investments will be required in the transport facilities and construction of additional dwellings

Threats

1) As the housing and finance industry is emerging as a promising industry, tough competition prevails in the industry. Competitors vary from already established huge institutions to the new but promising ones.

EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

The emergence of social media has changed modern day communication. [10] While that may sound like a cliché, it is a true fact and one that has disrupted the way that companies across a range of industries communicate with their customers and target audiences. While the establishment of sites like Facebook, which boasts close to 850 million users worldwide, as mainstream channels of communication has come more easily to some industries than others.

Banking is one of the oldest and most prestigious industries yet social is not yet a mainstream channel, in the same way that is in sports companies, the retail industry and other consumer-facing spaces have embraced social networks and the Internet. As adoption of social media is far from mainstream for banks, this article aims to focus at why that is the case, which brands are blazing a trail and how the rise of social media and the Web may influence the future of bank-consumer communications.

CHALLENGES OF BANKS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

Banking is a notable industry because banks are a prerequisite for every adult in the world, although emerging markets do have a significantly lower ratio of usage.

The fact that most people need a bank account means half of the battle for consumers is won already as the demand is there. What is key for banks is an understanding of their customers and exactly what they are looking for; and that’s an area where social media can be hugely beneficial.

A tool for understanding customers

If there’s one key reason for banks jumping into social media it would the potential to understand customers.

Banks spend fortunes trying to get feedback and responses as they look gauge customer interest, yet all of that and more can be found online.

Social media is packed full of opinions, wishes and other comments. While it is true that a lot of that noise is irrelevant, if the data can be distilled, it has the potential to give banks vital insight and understanding of their existing and prospective customers and their wants and needs.

Challenge 1: Customers

The first challenge that presents itself is the caution of customers. While hundreds of millions of people have become comfortable with sharing their lives online — in a way that was almost unimaginable a few years ago — there are areas where they feel less safe online. Money and bank details are arguably among the more troubling areas, and for good reason. Stories of websites and databases being hacked and bank details being stolen, email scams, viruses from the Internet and other incidents have trained many web users to be wary of using money online. To the point that this reluctance has manifested itself in communicating with banks and discussing anything financial online. According to a recent report from Avaya and BT, 69 percent of customers in the UK would not use social media to interact with their bank. While that figure is lower in the US (62 percent), Germany (64 percent) and Spain (47 percent), it doesn’t represent an audience that is particularly open to being communicated to. But a key problem is that many banks just aren’t doing it right.

A survey into 50 banks by Assetinum.com concluded that, though banks are beginning to step up social media accounts, few are actively using them and that is dissuading their audiences. Though 42 of the banks used Twitter, just 26 were actively tweeting and engaging with customers. Two thirds of banks were found to be actively using Facebook, while just 15 banks made relevant use of You Tube. On average the banks only scored one third of the possible total of assessment points for Twitter usage. Facebook scored worse than Twitter however, as just 18 banks (55 percent) with an active Facebook profile reacted to a test friend request, which the firm sees as a clear sign of "insufficient interaction with the users". Reflecting the mixed efforts, Benjamin Manz, managing partner of Assetinum, called the strategies implemented by the banks "amateurish".

"For a surprisingly high amount of banks a convincing social media strategy is still not distinguishable," he says in the report, which analyzed the social media performance of leading private banks worldwide.

Though the confidence figures are low, banks must take a part of the blame here. The level of activity from banks on social media is one big factor that can put customers at ease and give them greater confidence, although it won’t convince them all, of course.

Challenge 2: Selling social media internally

Part of the problem is that banks do not understand how to strategically use social media, or have problems ‘selling’ the idea and benefits to senior executives.

"There is no return on investment for social media," says Singapore-based bank marketing specialist Rob Findlay, "but many senior executive just don’t get that. You can’t really measure it, it’s like trying to find the ROI of your mother."

Findlay, who has worked at Australia Nation Bank (NAB), one institution well know for embracing social media, explains that banks are beginning to embrace social media.

"Initially, many were fairly reluctant but now they are getting involved," he says. "It’s a little bit like watching a kid sit on the edge of the pool waiting to get it."

POPULAR SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS

FACEBOOK

Subtly appears to be the key for banks that have grown their presence on Facebook. Perhaps that’s no surprise, given the privacy concerns that most users on the social network have but is interesting to note that banks with the most fans have leverage ‘extra curricular activities. The initiative began in 2009 and has been growing progressively since then.

TWITTER

Twitter is perhaps the most obvious tool for banks as it allows for a more direct customer service experience. Twitter does have its limits as there are still many questions that are too private or specialised for it, however it is offering a complimentary service in addition to others

GOOGLE+

As the newest mainstream social network on the Internet, Google+ is unsurprisingly further behind when it comes to brand interaction, as well as users. While the debate about just how popular Google+ is will continue to go on, there is no doubt that the service offers a unique set of possibilities through which banks could communicate with customers. In addition to a layout that places emphasis on images — to the point that Facebook introduced a new layout for photos that is remarkably similar — Hangout is a feature quite unlike anything on any other social network.

YOUTUBE

Building on the visual possibilities of Google+ Hangouts, You Tube is arguably the most ideal place to use multimedia content. Consistently ranked as one of the top websites anywhere in the world, The Google-owned video site sees more than 800 million visitors per month which would account for a vast number of current and prospective customers.

Not only that but You Tube videos can be embedded and share in blogs, websites and social networks across the Internet increasing the reach. Unlike other social networks, You Tube is much more of a one way conversation, which restricts the value that banks gather from it. However, with banking seen in a boring light by many, You Tube videos and clips could help provide a fresh and vibrant approach to stand out from the crowd.

LINKEDIN

It is the world’s largest Professional network and growing rapidly. Founded in December 2002 and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for networking for professional purposes.. As of June 2012[update], LinkedIn reports more than 175 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. [11] 

Adopting an integrated approach

Social networks themselves are simply the points of interaction and, more importantly than them, are the need for a cohesive and coordinated marketing that dovetails into existing communications efforts elsewhere. A real challenge for banks, and other organisations is thinking digitally and ensuring that digital media is a part of PR and marketing, rather than a separate silo altogether.

BANKING INDUSTRY AND SOCIAL MEDIA

The race among lenders to get noticed and make a lasting impression in the public’s psyche is only heating up. [12] Traditional marketing tools like billboards and television advertising may retain their charm as THE preferred medium, but in a gradual but perceptible shift, social media is emerging as the new destination for bankers to reach out to a wide array of customers. [13] 

The reason is not too far to seek. The big driver is the cost of setting up a social media platform is minimal for banks, and on top of it, the reach is overwhelming by all accounts.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, one of the more active banks in the arena of social media, spends about 5% of its total advertising budget for this new form of marketing, says Karthi Marshan, head-group marketing.

"Compared to mainline marketing, social media would be extremely cost competitive. At budgets less than Rs2 crore a year, banks could do a good job of managing an active social media presence," adds Sanjay Mehta, joint chief executive officer, Social Wavelength, a social media marketing firm that also manages Kotak Mahindra Bank’s visibility in this space.

Just how useful the networking mechanism is can be derived from the fact that a whopping 90% of customers accessing banking services on social media platforms are men, and close to 75% of the total users are in the age group of 18-34 years, say experts. "While the penetration is across the board, the youth and young professionals are more adoptive of social media," says Anindya Datta, president & chief marketing officer, Yes Bank.

What is stoking the trend is major private sector banks have all come out with internet applications — popularly called apps — which not only help connect with an existing customer, but also attract prospective ones. While some of these apps are purely marketing devices to promote new offers and discounts, some are plain utility services as well.

ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN NEW AGE BANKING

Gen Y's preference for instant, anytime service means that banks have to revamp their strategy to include the internet, mobile usage and social networking in their customer service. [14] 

On the back of a period of intense upheaval in the world of finance, it is inevitable that the spotlight will turn to the future of banking. The digital generation has overturned long held norms of communication, engagement, decision-making and transaction. Spearheading this disruption is a generation young, educated, networked and independent thinking consumers, who want full control over their decisions, including those related to finance. They decide on the basis of contextual real time insight, and peer group recommendation, almost all of which is gathered online. Their expectations are coloured by their experience with consumption in the Internet age, where many services are free and gratification is instant.

So, their banking behaviour comes as no surprise. The youth are more geared towards a preference for online banking, reliance on peer/parental advice while choosing a financial service provider and a willingness to change their bank if necessary.

Banking on social media

Therefore, it is imperative that banks offer the full range of products and services on all their non- branch channels. They must also find a way to engage and build a relationship with customers who would rather operate remotely than visit the branch.

Social media has a key role to play in this. Web sites like Facebook and Twitter are the best gateways to digital consumers. This is where they research and form opinions about financial products; this is also where they air their views to influence those of others. A few innovative firms, such as Zopa and Prosper have launched social lending platforms to facilitate the exchange of money between individual online community members. On the other hand, traditional banking players – barring a few such as Wells Fargo and Citibank – have largely stayed away from social media, but they will also have to eventually accept this trend.

BEST PRACTICES OF BANKS IN INDIA ON SOCIAL MEDIA

HDFC Bank, often ranked as a topper when it comes to utilizing the social media space, runs the Money Matters section on its Facebook page. Through this, the bank engages visitors by putting up interesting news articles, small puzzles and games to educate users about various banking tools and even posting latest offers on cards and loans at the bank.

Axis Bank, too, is not behind, which boasts of an active presence with its interactive apps and offers that allow the bank to communicate with its target audience. "The brand campaign apps like Meri Zindagi ka Safar and Meri Zindagi ki Picture both have seen more than 20,000 monthly active users," said Manisha Lath Gupta, chief marketing officer.

Similarly, ICICI Bank has come out with a special Facebook application for its customers to enable them to access their accounts through the networking site. The ‘Your Bank Account’ application allows the customer to check account details, upgrade credit cards, get account statements and request for new cheque books.

"In our in-house research what we had noticed is that, till about 18 months ago social media was the last resort for customers to complain about the brand. But nowadays, customers prefer to go to a social media site first," says Marshan.

Experts see the trend very similar to what happens in banks globally. Security and regulatory issues around banking have made banks tread a cautious line before going the whole hog in embracing the newest way of connecting with people. However, "Globally, innovative engagements have been deployed by banks, to encourage new account openings, use of net banking as against branch banking, acquisition of new customers and the like," says Mehta.

There may be a definite ease with which customers get their problems solved through social media. But what is coming in the way of customers and banks alike is online security that is proving to be a major concern for them.

THE SBI EXAMPLE

"We’re trying our level best in reaching out to customers and educating them through our Twitter handle (@SBIConnex), that they should not share their account details online, under any circumstances unless they are confident about the security," says A Krishna Kumar, managing director and group executive (national banking), State Bank of India.

SBI has deputed a team at its global information technology centre in Belapur, Navi Mumbai, to work on the bank’s social media presence, Kumar said.

IDBI BANK

Presence and performance both matter today for brands on social media and it holds true for all sectors. In March 2012, IDBI bank declared itself as the most social bank in India If one reads the article intensely then one would find that the basis of self proclamation of the bank has all been based on the number of fans the brand has on Twitter and Facebook. Besides this, it has added You tube and Google Plus to it’s list.

HDFC BANK LEADS THE WAY

HDFC Bank has always prided itself on a highly automated environment, be it in terms of information technology or communication systems. All the branches of the bank boast of online connectivity with the other, ensuring speedy funds transfer for the clients. At the same time, the bank's branch network and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) allow multi-branch access to retail clients. The bank makes use of its up-to-date technology, along with market position and expertise, to create a competitive advantage and build market share. [15] 

HDFC Bank has presence across 8 social media channels out of which the prominent presence is on Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, You tube & their official blog. Important aspect is the engagement which they do on all these channels.

FACEBOOK

HDFC’s page on facebook generates admirable feedback from users which serves as a ground for them to understand their fans as well as promote their banking products. They have a money matters section where they provide interesting recent financial news of interest to their fans. Also they keep on engaging the users with interesting puzzles/jigsaws based upon financial terms.

TWITTER

HDFC’s twitter approach is build upon again like their facebook approach on sharing interesting & relevant information with their followers, asking them interesting puzzles, sharing new products & deals from their stable and so on. No wonder that they have a healthy follower count of 1300+ which is growing on the daily basis.

What’s more, HDFC Bank even lets its customers voice their grievances on the bank’s Facebook page. "We have consciously allowed users to post their complaints on the wall and not redirect them elsewhere, thereby answering them within a 24-hour framework and allowing others to read the reply," says Nimesh Shah, head maven, Windchimes Communications, which is powering the bank’s new-age networking. [16] 

HDFC Bank, often ranked as a topper when it comes to utilizing the social media space, runs the Money Matters section on its Facebook page. Through this, the bank engages visitors by putting up interesting news articles, small puzzles and games to educate users about various banking tools and even posting latest offers on cards and loans at the bank.

YOUTUBE:

HDFC lacks on its Youtube marketing aspect and needs to learn from other banks like ICICI which is the second most active bank on social media in India. Although HDFC has created some great commercials for their television audience which have found their way on Youtube also and these commercials have large viewership on Youtube too but they need to leverage Youtube by posting such videos regularly on their channel & promoting it further. 

HDFC Bank's company page on LINKEDIN has more than 13,000 followers. They haven't leveraged this platform to its full potential yet like they can display their products on their page on which they can get recommendation from the users which will serve as a live testimonial but still having a presence on Linked In is being helpful to them as the company stats & employees list can be browsed through to get interesting information about them.

Here's a very good graph showing the comparison of different Indian banks on social media which clearly out states the leadership of HDFC bank in this domain [17] :

HDFC, ICICI and American Express the most social media engaging banks in India [18] 

According to a report published in The Economic Times dated 14th January, 2011, being a completely customer driven segment, Banks are required to be in constant touch with their customers. Social Media can act as a great channel of communication not just for promoting new schemes but also listening to what the customer needs and collecting feedback online. According to In-Rev Systems, the innovators behind Simplify360, the banking sector in India has still has not explored the power of social media. Based on the research done by the people at In-Rev, only a couple of nationalized banks have been pretty much active on the social media sphere and they have a long way to go.

Sadly, banks like the Vijaya and the Bank of Maharashtra, though they have over 1000 branches serving in many cities throughout India, they have not understood how significant it is to maintain a cordial relation with the customers who exist on the social media. Some banks even though are present largely, like the Bank of India and Bank of Baroda see the social media as a platform to market their products rather than 'engaging' with the customers.

But a few of the private sector banks have understood the importance of social presence like the HDFC and the ICICI. The American Express has been pretty engaged both globally and regionally. It is to be noted that major market shares the banking sector are held by these financial firms who have understood the impact of social presence.

The perspectives of banks such as HDFC and ICICI have favored them in acquiring a large number of customers and gaining a lion's share of the market. The learning is quite simple. Engage, Evolve and hence Excel.

"Businesses are using social media as a platform to promote and sell their product and also communicate and connect with their customers" said Sweta, COO, InRev Systems. "The objective of this study was to understand the social media presence of banks in India and which are the banks that are using this channel of communication to their advantage."

According to the study, top ten banks according to their social media engagement are:

Social Media Score of Bank operating in India:

HDFC Bank: 5.14

ICICI Bank: 4.78

American Express: 4.64

State Bank of India: 3.64

Kotak Mahindra Bank: 3.32

Yes Bank: 3.22

Citi Bank: 2.82

Bank of Baroda: 2.82

South Indian Bank: 2.7

Bank of India: 2.52

THE ROAD AHEAD

Today banking is not limited to a branch. People have lesser time to spend on their banking activities and would like to avail the banking services through other channels. In a competitive market where the services offered command market share, banks are constantly vying for customers. Banking has become a process of choice and convenience.

By offering different channels even the banks have been successful in diverting their operations from a branch to other channels. The result of which has been a cut in the cost per transaction at the branch.

The rise of social media is a phenomenon that has swept through every sector of commerce in the past couple of years, slowly but surely transforming the manner in which companies deal with their customers, who now not only have a voice, but a terrifyingly far-reaching soapbox upon which to spout their various ills or thrills. Poor social media strategies have had a deleterious impact upon a number of global giants, including perennial fall guys Nestle and new bad-kid-on-the-block, BP. There is little a company can do to smother bad publicity in the social media sphere, but they can assuage it so long as they adopt a proactive, positive approach. [19] 

Banks, in particular, are precariously positioned as we enter an age where the customer is now not only always right, but always online and connected.

As technology and the financial industry evolve, so will attitudes towards social media and banking. Currently, the surface has been scratched and larger financial institutions have set upon some sort of social media strategy. There is still some way to go before there is complete consumer confidence in undertaking the bulk of one's banking via these forums, and in many ways not much will change aesthetically or structurally - people are still going to require local branches, 24-hour hotlines and traditional websites. Where the shift is likely to occur - if it has not already - is in how a bank attracts, communicates and interacts with its customer base. Marketing departments face the greatest challenge in not only adapting to this new opportunity, but also moulding it into something that the banks can control once more.

For companies trying to reach out to more of their audience, creating a page on social networking sites has become vital to connecting and communicating with fans who ultimately turn out to be their customers.