The popularity of banks on social networks – especially official corporate pages on Facebook or Vkontakte, and Twitter accounts – has increased more than 50-fold over the past year, says a report from Artenom Consulting.
“One third of the country’s 100 largest banks has either established an official presence on social networks or is using new communication channels such as ICQ or Skype,” the report reveals.
Although Facebook lags far behind Vkontakte and other major Russian social networks in terms of audience, banks are significantly more active on the US site.
The total number of subscribers of the largest banks’ official pages on social networking sites reached nearly half a million in late 2011, according to Artenom.
UniCredit Bank, the Russian subsidiary of an Italian bank, has the highest number of fans on Facebook and VKontakte. SKB-Bank, from Ekaterinburg, is number one on Twitter. OTP Bank Russia, a subsidiary of Hungary’s OTP, and AK Bars, a bank from Kazan, are those making the widest use of social networking tools.
None of the banks leading in social media in 2010 were able to maintain their positions in 2011, the report noted.
Insurance companies are also socializing online
Another report by Artenom, published last month, focuses on the use of social networks by insurance companies.
So far only eleven of Russia’s 100 largest insurance companies have official pages on social networks, or use ICQ or Skype. The insurance companies that are most active on social networks are Renaissance Strakhovanie, Rosgosstrakh, ROSNO, and Severnaya Kazna.
As of early 2012, Russian insurance companies had 6 million fans on social networks.
Artenom’s analysts expect the presence of insurance companies on social networks to develop quickly in the near future, just as banks did last year.
