Charlotte: The Epicenter of Bank Social Activity
Two financial institutions have increased their focus on social media and have elevated the visibility of their activity on social channels, and both plan to work on social predominantly out of Charlotte, North Carolina – which could soon lay claim as “the big bank epicenter for social activities.”
Last month, Wells Fargo Bank recently launched both a San Francisco-based social center and announced plans for another in Charlotte. Leading Wells Fargo’s social strategy from Charlotte, its senior vice president/director of social media is responsible for a pilot program involving 40 brokers. The bank is also focused on compliance, marketing, education and service using social platforms.
Bank of America, in the meantime, has been steadily using social for an effort named “Project Better,” which is focused on improving customer satisfaction scores using social media. As reported by the Charlotte Business Journal, the bank reports that it has touched 17 million U.S. households to date, and it envisions its ramped-up social efforts not as a way to shift customer interactions away from traditional service channels but to create additional customer interactions.
Here are some facts* behind Bank of America’s social growth:
- In all of 2012, the bank reported 50,000 social interactions, compared with 284,000 interactions during the first nine months of 2013.
- Formerly, around one dozen employees had social media job responsibilities, and currently BAC has designated more than 100 to help with service issues via social. The teams are located in various geographies across the bank footprint, with a dedicated team and management control out of Charlotte.
- As with Chase’s Social Media Command Center, Bank of America’s social staffing is sourced from its traditional customer service centers. It indicates that the shift to social is being accomplished by tapping its “well-regarded and highly trained call center workers,” many of whom boast more than 20 years of experience. With 30 percent of banks’ social interactions coming from Baby Boomers and another 40 percent from Gen X, 70 percent fall into the over-30 age demographic.
With increased social volume across Bank of America’s 15 platforms (including Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust) comes increased risk – public exposure travels lock-step with social miss-steps… unlike the relatively safe, controlled environment of a traditional call center. We’re hoping – in the face of increasing commitment and focus – that Bank of America’s social efforts will meet its “Better” objective.
*Source: Charlotte Business Journal’s “Can Bank of America, Wells Fargo learn to like social media?”
