Slashdot Mirror
Why UK Banks Don't Tweet
An anonymous reader writes "Banks in Great Britain are running scared of using social media services like Facebook and Twitter — owing to case law that dates from 1924." That case law "means financial services companies can't publicly identify an individual who has an account with them," so responding to customer inquiries in other than the traditional ways (like post and in-person) could get banks in trouble.
Do US Banks tweet?
Can they just post as Anonymous Coward instead?
In case you are wondering what kind of 'twittering' banks engage in, here is a sample from some banks in the USA.
Did you know that Yeti has the biggest carbon footprint?
I guess I would have to agree, if I saw my bank posting things everywhere on Facebook and Twitter about me being a member of theirs, I might be slightly annoyed, even though it's more like one of those "technologically-oblivious but still over-concerned" arguments that people like my parents use. Still I suppose it's better to be safe, because no doubt there's *someone* that would overreact. Oh yeah, and following laws and contracts is good too.
Here I was hoping the reason would be "Because it's fucking retarded, and the executives of UK banks have brains." Oh well.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Actually now that I know of the existence of that rule I kind of like it. There's really no need for a bank to tweet anyway:
"All this money in my vault is getting itchy now".
Great bank. Thanks for sharing.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Why do I click on my bookmark for Slashdot anymore? What is it up to now, 50% stupid? I know the origination is the article...but come on guys, lets cover intelligent ones vs. nonsense.
i really don't need my bank, and especially its staff wasting time 'socialising' - that time could be better spent either improving their service or paying additional bonuses to their ceo's....
If UK folk are wondering, yes, banks in other countries do use Twitter to engage with their customers. In Australia the big-4 banks actively use Twitter and compete for followers - http://www.news.com.au/business/cba-westpac-anz-nab-compete-for-facebook-fans-twitter-followers/story-e6frfm1i-1226015116016
Why do several tweets from different banks on http://www.banktwitter.com/ all start off with "Signing off 4 the weekend"? Are they copying and pasting off each other?
Maybe they are the same thing in a Web 2.0 World.
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You must be freaking serious?
Any possibility of finding a leak from a bank is excluded, the moment third party is involved in communication, the party who does not warranty quality/security of communication.
"Ou well, though shi*, tweeter sold your data to third party company, sorry bout that." or "ou well sorry, it's tweeters fault, unfortunately they don't offer any secure communication way, would you prefer facebook instead? "
If they have any sense the UK bankers are not tweeting so we are not reminded about their thieving asses. If the UK public remember the bankers exist and remember how they bankrupted the public purse for private gain, the UK populace just might start acting like the Libyan populace and rebelling. Who here wouldn't cheer the lynching of the bankers?
The UK has a lot of anger, a lot of lamp-posts and plenty of rope. I wouldnt be at all suprised if the security types at the big banks advice is: Keep a low profile if you want to keep spending that stolen bonus on anything other than bodyguards.
I'd have thought that it's the customer publicly identifying themselves when they send a Twitter message to the bank in the first place.
Help me! I'm turning into a grapefruit!
Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland use Twitter as a means of customer service.
http://twitter.com/lloydstsbonline
http://twitter.com/Halifax_Online
http://twitter.com/bankofscot_help
In the US, I wished that the SEC would allow tweeting material info to meet the requirements of Reg FD.
Things like this need an audit trail. They need proper recording and most of all they need credibility. Tweeting (and FB, for that matter) don't offer any of these. They're fine for children to fantasise about who they luuuuuuuuuuuv that week (or hour) but for real-world applications they are worthless.
Even if banks did tweet I can't see any customers with an ounce of sense using the facility. Who'd put their account data in such an unsecured and unvalidated form?
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Here is the Twitter account of Lloyds TSB (A British Bank) https://twitter.com/LloydsTSBOnline/ - it does seem to be the only one though.
Does this mean something different in the UK than the US?
I can't imagine banks in the UK would be hysterically afraid of twitter.
If you don't understand what fractional reserve banking is, you can't understand why the modern world is the way it is. Fractional reserve banking is the reason you have to work five days a week, just to keep a roof over your head. Fractional reserve banking is the reason behind most of the world's wars. Fractional reserve banking is the reason your children won't be able to afford their own houses until they're at least 35.
I don't get universal contempt of Twitter as if it's absolutely worthless. Yeah, there's a lot of useless 'information' on Twitter, but the service does actually have value as a means to share interesting or practical tidbits of information or as a replacement for RSS feed tracking.
Oh wait, I do understand. It's 'cool' to hate Twitter.
RSS feeds are more productive as I can't say anything in 140 letters or less so I may as well shutup.
What possible value could using these various forms of social media have to the bank or their customers? Not value to the likes of Zuckerberg and his ilk.
I can see a few cases where a bank might tweet their current mortgage or credit card rates to a group of interested subscribers. But beyond that, I can see no value in giving third parties information on my financial transactions. Or even the existence of a relationship between myself and some institution.
Twitter, Facebook, and other similar services are one to many 'broadcast' technologies. Of what use is it to broadcast replies to customer inquiries?
Have gnu, will travel.
This article can't have been made in seriousness... come on... are we really arguing about whether it's a good idea to bank using twitter? We must be caught up in a bet Slashdot editors made late last night after several rounds of some substance.
so responding to customer inquiries in other than the traditional ways (like post and in-person) could get banks in trouble.
And nothing of value was lost.
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Lets face it, neither Twitter or Facebook are anything close to secure. I personally don't want my bank putting anything customer specific in either of these. General marketing is fine. They are getting it right.
It's not just about this law - banks, like many companies, don't want to engage because they think they know best and also can't be bothered with the constant negativity that will be fired their way. I did an article about social media and banks before which pointed this out - people who work in banks very often have a different way of thinking to the general person.
None of the tweets to more than 2 levels deep.
Its like they take the tweeter into a back room somewhere ... and strangle him.
But that what they want.
They opened all of those Twitter accounts in order to shut people up.
They leave one "gardian" service rep on a bunch of accounts and when a tweet comes in, their job is to detract, distract, defer, refer and destroy the evidence.
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If you don't want a public answer, why ask a public question?
For one thing, most money in circulation isn't currency; it's numbers in a bank account. (See various definitions of the money supply.) For another, most of what people deposit over the counter is money only by fiat; it's a loan agreement guaranteed by the United States Government. At least gold has another use, namely to gold-plate an electrical connector or a piece of jewelry.
Banks aren't saying "Hey John, your account is overdrawn." They are using them as a form of generalized customer service & marketing. So rather than account information, you are more likely to see, "Hey all, we are going to be at the local place today giving a seminar on personal finance!"