Banks Bravely Tackling The Online Space

Traditionally four banks have dominated the banking industry in South Africa. For years these four have jockeyed for the right to service consumer’s’ financial needs. Banks are well aware of the high lifetime value of a customer and many will go to the great lengths to secure a consumer’s loyalty from an early age. 

Given banks desire for this, it should come as no surprise that the banking industry has been among the fastest to embrace the online frontier as a means to communicate with current and potential consumers. This has seen as banks are increasingly placing Social Media at the centre of their communication strategies. The net effect has seen the banking industry hold a position among the most talked about industries online.

During the month of October discussion around the four major banks in South Africa generated 12 362 mentions online. It’s worth noting that of this conversation, on average only 7% were generated by the banks themselves, while the press contributed 13% of the total, leaving consumers responsible for 80% of all conversations in the South African online space. If you considers that this translates into 11.5 consumer mentions for every 1 bank generated mention, you realise the talk ability of banking conversation.

Research across the four banks identifies Twitter as the main platform for discussion with 65% of all consumer mentions taking place on the microblogging site. The other 35% of consumer conversation is spread predominantly across Facebook, forums and blogs posts.

The word cloud below outlines the 50 most frequently used terms within banking conversation in October. The prominence of the ‘RT’ indicates that banking conversation has the tendency to be shared and is not reserved exclusively to troubleshooting. ABSA’s sponsorship of the Currie Cup was another important topic with the tournament drawing to a close in October. Discussion around home loans is the most notable banking service being discussed.