With news that ING is to enable elements of banking over Facebook and Chirpify to allow users pay with Facebook comments, it seems that social banking has arrived. How ironic then that most banks are so caught up in regulatory concerns that they themselves don’t take full advantage of social networks, let alone social on mobile devices, to interact with customers.

While many banks are holding back, concerned over compliance, security and loss of reputation, others are picking up the gauntlet and talking not just to their customers, but to their competitors’ customers too. And the problem will only get worse. Already if your target demographic is under 34 and you’re not on social, you probably don’t even register in considerations of who they will trust with their money.

It’s a big gamble to take, so does the risk really outweigh the lack of action?

Risk in social media broadly comes down to four main areas, all of which are easily mitigated. Data leakage – deploy content monitoring just as you would do for email. Inbound threats such as viruses – ensure all entry points are covered by anti-malware technology. Compliance – archive and log everything, again just as you would for email. User behaviour – tie all social media and web 2.0 application buddy names back to an individual’s corporate ID.

The evidence is there to demonstrate that using social media leads to an increase in revenue, reduces contact centre calls and potentially lowers customer acquisition costs. In addition, engaging directly with your customers and prospects will provide in-depth data that can be used to enhance and develop future products and services.

When even your grandmother is on Facebook, you know it’s a channel that can’t be ignored.

People are always asking, what’s the risk of doing social media? Well yes, there are some big concerns, but they can be managed and mitigated. The real risk is doing nothing at all.