Banks spooked by social media

Just why have financial institutions been so slow to harness the power of social media to boost their reputations? Fear about losing control over their corporate image may be holding them back, communication experts say.


This was certainly the experience of Allan Schoenberg, director of corporate communications at the CME Group, after he stumbled upon a Facebook page on the firm, set up by a Danish trader, several years ago. After reading the thoughtful commentary posted by its followers, his response changed from “How do I shut this down?” to “How do I leverage this?” The CME Group now boasts 786,314 Twitterfollowers and 5,785 Facebook fans.