Banking Review

Banks and bankers from AU/NZ on Twitter

Since we ran this story on banks using Twitter back in October last year, even we’ve been surprised by the rapid uptake of the micro-blogging service.

This month Twitter became the 37th most visited website by Australian users (according to Hitwise), with an annual growth rate of 3,220 per cent (no that is not a typo).

Critics are attributing much of the growth to the recent spurt of celebrities signing on to Twitter, dubbing it the “Oprah Effect”, but the reality is more and more Australian companies, including banks, are beginning to experiment with the tool.

This month ANZ CEO Brian Hartzer (@ANZozCEO) became the first big four bank chief to latch on to the Twitter craze. (Postscript: And then Brian Hartzer promptly resigned from ANZ, telling many people via Twitter)

Hartzer told Online Banking Review “On a personal level I enjoy Twitter for its brazen honesty and the immediacy of the interactions”.

Hartzer says if Twitter continues to grow and go ‘mainstream’ then he would definitely see a role for it in providing customer service and responding to customer complaints.

We’ve got more from Brian Hartzer in our executive interview in Friday’s May/June edition of Retail Banking Review.

NAB direct banking arm UBank (@UBank) and RaboPlus (@RaboPlus) are two institutions already using Twitter to service customers.

And although not officially tweeting under the Commonwealth Bank brand, prolific Twitter user Derek Jenkins (@ozdj) has been assisting bank customers with service issues for many months.

Of course no self-respecting story on Twitter would be complete without the obligatory “Top 10” list of users in our industry. Banking blogger Christophe Langlois (@Visible_Banking) has done a great job summarising many of the banks using Twitter and their progress to date here, and inspired by his efforts, we thought we’d do the same for the local Australia/New Zealand market.

It’s a work in progress, so please fell free to suggest additions/dob people in via the comments, or DM to @bankingreview.

Banks on Twitter
@BOQonline
@ANZMoneyManager
@Individuum
@MLC_Wealth_News
@NAB
@nablab
@Raboplus
@RaboplusNZ
@SmartyPigAU (ANZ)
@stgeorgecareers (St George)
@Ubank (NAB)
@Westpac_help
@YMoneyMatters (CBA)

Bankers on Twitter
@alcro (Aussie)
@anthonysexton (Suncorp)
@ANZozCEO (ANZ)
@cassfenton (Westpac)
@ChrisPCanty (ex Wizard)
@corinnepaterson (Newcastle Permanent)
@gerdschenkel (UBank)
@gilltatt (NSW Teachers Credit Union)
@GregMcAweeney (RaboPlus)
@ilikechips (UBank)
@Jason_Byrne (Newcastle Permanent)
@John__Williams (Heritage Building Society)
@kaushil (AMP Banking)
@kenfreer
@Lunadave
@mark_a_rawlings (BankWest)
@MartinPlace (Westpac)
@mattheine (Netwealth)
@maverickwoman (AMP)
@menyen (ANZ)
@MChoiceKristy (Mortgage Choice)
@montyhamilton (UBank)
@ozdj (CBA)
@ravenorcrow
@robertsheridan
@robfindlay (NAB)
@samplowman (ANZ)
@sanka32
@SarahCut (Savings & Loans)
@SaschaHunt (BT)
@seancarmody
@TarnyaBaohm (RaboPlus)
@TheBankChannel (NAB)
@TomPetrovski (Sadly, not the real Tom, although sometimes convincing..)
@Trangq (E*TRADE)
@unsword (CBA)
@VintageAle (Newcastle Permanent)
@vmwhitak64 (NAB)
@votekatet (Individuum)

Finance related organisations on Twitter
@CANSTARCANNEX
@helpmechoose
@infochoicerates
@MasterCardNews
@mozo_au
@RateCity
@ratedetective