Why Gulf's lenders need to bank on social media

Gulf banks need to increase interaction and engagement in social media to boost growth, advises a new study.
The study findings revealed that UAE banks topped the list among GCC banks with highest presence on LinkedIn. Qatar National Bank, Saudi British Bank and Emirates NBD topped the list of GCC banks with highest presence on Facebook, it added.
The report, entitled "Social Media and its impact on the GCC Banking Sector", was recently launched by Orient Planet Research, a subsidiary of Orient Planet Group. The study has identified 15 of the GCC region's leading banks and their respective standings across various social media channels.
For the GCC region alone, the total number of followers across the social media accounts of these 15 leading GCC banks have reached high numbers - Facebook (5,148,673 users), Twitter (2,445,324), LinkedIn (865,503), Instagram (366,686) and YouTube (56,478 subscribers).
The industry report recommended that the region's banking and financial institutions should not ignore the widespread consumer adoption and the potential power of today's social media.
GCC banks should look beyond social media as a simple marketing tool but rather see it as an essential factor in the move to develop relevant actionable insights and gain real value from consumer interaction. This newfound consumer behaviour towards social media has prompted the region's financial and banking institutions to implement online campaigns using popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, among others.
Despite the benefits to be gained from utilising these social networks, the report cautions that there are still challenges to be addressed - particularly across how it will impact traditional banking operations and training personnel on the management and interaction of social media accounts. Other issues that need to be overcome include the determination of reliable analysis from collated data and how to deal with cyber security risks and threats. In terms of Facebook ranking, Qatar National Bank leads the list with over 2,080,833 likes and is followed by Saudi British Bank and Emirates NBD, the report said.
For Twitter, National Commercial Bank leads with 618,372 followers and is followed by Al Rahji Banking Corporation and Saudi British Bank.
Regarding LinkedIn ranking, National Bank of Abu Dhabi leads the list with over 134,117 followers and is followed by Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD.
In terms of Instagram ranking, National Bank of Kuwait leads the list with over 168,308 followers and is followed by Kuwait Finance House and Qatar National Bank.
- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com