Financial services firms should use Web 2.0 applications such as wikis, podcasts and blogs in order to improve cross-enterprise collaboration and deliver personalised information to clients, according to research group Gartner.
The report says that engaging with customers through call centres and via Internet campaigns is no longer sufficient and recommends that banks adopt Web 2.0 applications in order to provide personalised services to customers.
Gartner says in the next 12-24 months banks should implement applications such as wikis, podcasts and blogs to facilitate collaboration and internal communication.
Banks should also deploy RSS syndication, podcasts and tags to deliver general information to consumers, such as content covering online banking security and financial education topics. Firms should also introduce internal policies to monitor staff participation in public wikis and other online communities on the bank's behalf, says Gartner.
Through to 2011 Gartner advises the banking community to develop Web 2.0 applications that support multi-channel delivery for personal account information and alerts. Firms are also encouraged to monitor emerging Internet social networks for their potential for partnerships to offer services within the network or to create non-traditional distribution channels by dealing with customers one-to-one.
Earlier this year both UBS and Dresdner Kleinwort said they would use Really Simple Syndication (RSS) as a mechanism to distribute research to clients.
Dresdner Kleinwort also uses RSS feeds internally to inform employees when the contents of the bank's corporate wiki or staff blogs are updated.