Study Shows Social Media Sentiment Towards Banks Turns Positive

American Express had the most dramatic increase in share of voice and positive sentiments followed by Citibank

Serendio, a customer experience analytics firm, has released its Q4 2010 BankInsight research report showing that online social media sentiment towards banks has turned positive. The study incorporated information pulled from over 300,000 conversations on Twitter, Facebook, product review websites, forums and blogs.

Serendio says its BankInsight report is the first of its kind with insights derived solely from social media discussions about retail banking. Some of the specific subjects covered in the BankInsight analysis include credit cards, mortgages, online banking, mobile banking, fees and customer service.

Barclays, Capital One, HSBC and Wells Fargo all had net positive sentiments for the quarter. American Express showed most improvement in both share of voice and positive sentiments taking the top spot in the Q4 study. Citibank was the only other bank that showed significant improvement over the previous quarter.

BofA’s overall share-of-voice dropped, and its net sentiment remained negative. JP Morgan Chase, for its size, had the lowest share-of-voice and had the most negative sentiments this quarter.

With mortgages, Wells Fargo has slightly positive perception, while Bank of America has slightly negative perception. Barclay employees are perceived most positively, while US Bank employees are the least liked.

BANK ASSETS VS. SOCIAL MEDIA MENTIONS

Share-of-voice is generally directly proportional to the size of the bank except for a few instances. JP Morgan, which has a very high asset size, is one of the least mentioned banks in Serendio’s study, whereas American Express, which has significantly less assets, is the most discussed.

Among the other insights uncovered in Serendio’s analysis:

  • Twitter continues to be the dominant medium for bank conversation
  • Banks with their own Twitter channels seem to fare better in the overall study than the banks who don’t
  • Overall, mortgage issues continue to dominate conversations with some very negative sentiments
  • Sentiments about credit cards have been generally positive
  • Online banking continues to generate net positive sentiments, but experiences vary widely from bank to bank

“This research provides a real-time picture of detailed sentiments that bankers will find invaluable.”
— Robert Pincus,
Vice-Chairman/EagleBank

Serendio says its BankInsight report is the first of its kind with insights derived solely from social media discussions about retail banking. “It is the first comprehensive consumer banking study gleaned from thousands of online consumer statements found on various review, blog and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter,” the company said in a statement.

“Our detailed, high-fidelity listening analytics go beyond the usual social media monitoring prevalent today to deliver a more accurate picture of what consumers are saying about the most vital banking elements,” said Serendio CEO Ravi Condamoor.

Serendio BankInsight is available for purchase as a syndicated report, or you can download the summary at the company’s website for free. Individual banks and credit unions can also partner with Serendio to create a customized online social media reputation report specifically for them.

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