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On the 21st June 2012, The RBS group suffered a computer failure which knocked out much of the banks group’s ability to process payments through their computer system. The problem lasted almost a week in which time over 11 million NatWest customers were affected.In this report, we look at when consumers flocked to the NatWest Twitter account for answers, and how NatWest handled their Twitter account through this process.The data was analysed using BirdSong: Social Media Reconnaissance.
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The NatWest Banking ‘Crisis’On the 21st June 2012, The RBS group suffered a computer failure which knocked out much of the banks group’s ability to process payments through their computer system. The problem lasted almost a week in which time over 11 million NatWest customers were affected.
In this report, we look at when consumers flocked to the NatWest Twitter account for answers, and how NatWest handled their Twitter account through this process.
Methodology
The key account for @natwest_help was analysed to identify key trends over the period.
The following elements were analysed in this report:
1. Frequency of Tweets
2. Mentions of NatWest
3. Day of Week Twitter Presence
4. Daypart Twitter presence
5. Profile of Tweets
6. Message Content
7. Identification of Support Giver
The data period for this analysis was the 20th June 2012 to 27th June 2012. The date range covers the immediate run up to, during and the end of disruption.
02 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
1. Followers of NatWest
Key Insight: Overnight, the number of followers to @natwest_help leapt by almost 200% indicating a desire for customers to engage with the bank.
Before the crisis, NatWest had a respectable 2681 followers, leaping by almost 200% to 7,970 followers. The growth continued until the 28th of June when the major banking issues were fixed. Looking slightly further, the number of followers to @natwest_help plateaued then slightly dropped as the demand for help decreased to normal levels.
During this time, no other bank saw above average growth in followers.
Number of Twitter followers for key banks during the period of NatWest disruption.
The surge in followers to Natwest compared drastically with the near static growth in followers to rival banks, taking the NatWest account to become the most followed of the identified banks.
2. Mentions of NatWest
Key Insight: In line with follower growth, the mentions of @natwest_help leapt 8.5 fold between the 19th of June and its peak of the 22nd June 2012.
Before the crisis, the number of mentions @natwest_help had barely reached double figures every day. On the 19th Mentions of the bank were in line with standard ‘chatter;’ and mention of a Blackberry app coming soon.
On the 20th June when the bank issues became apparent, the number of mentions more then doubled, leaping to a peak on the 22nd of June.
3. Day of Week Analysis
Key Insight: At a time when most NatWest branches were open for the weekend, the NatWest Twitter account was not manned, sending out automated tweets linking to bank help pages.
NatWest maintains a regular stance of actively tweeting Monday to Friday. A handful of tweets are scheduled for weekends but are not replies, simply automated tweets.
03 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
Despite opening more than 1,00 branches for the weekend 23/24th June, the Twitter account was left unmanned – tweeting standard messages across the weekend, picking up replies again on Monday morning.
The 850 clicks this link received from Twitter on the 24th shows the level of interest or demand the Twitter account was generating that could have been directly supporting customers.
4. Day Part Analysis
Key Insight: At a time when branches were staying open until 19:00, the opening hours for the Twitter account rarely extended beyond 17:00. Only towards the end of the banking disruption, did the Twitter account stay active until 19:00.
Before the disruption, the NatWest account stuck firmly to tweeting during office hours.
Average day part pattern for @natwest_help
On most days of disruption, the NatWest team maintained a fix tweeting pattern, knocking off between 16:00 & 17:00. Only since the 30th June has the account actively been tweeting until 19:00.
Considering the key periods of follower growth and brand mentions peaked around the 22nd of June, the extended presence seems out of sync with customer expectations.
5. Profile of Tweets
Key Insight: NatWest seemed slow to react to the crisis. The initial boost in tweet volume was a mixture of standard messages and links to website help. Apart from the 20th June, the bank was slow to actively respond to customers, peaking with 57 responses on the 28th June
The sheer volume of @natwest_help tweets recorded on the 22nd seems to have caught the bank aware. The initial reaction was a boost to the number of tweets with key messages such as “We continue to experience technical issues with our service this morning and want to apologise to all customers who have been impacted“
04 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
It took until the 26th June for the bank to start actively engaging with their audience. This was after the weekend of 23/24 June when the bank posted automated tweets with links to online help, at a time when branches were open and NatWest advisors were working.
Number of Tweets, Replies & Retweets from @natwest_help by day
6. Message Content
Key Insight: The bank moved quickly to make a corporate statement on the disruption and ensure regular apologies were delivered. However, active engagement with customers and responses via Twitter did not kick in until late into the crisis, where most responses directed customers to a call centre or website link.
The bank quickly reacted with a number of statements as to the crisis. These included apologies, and links to FAQ’s. Despite the leap in mentions the bank did not actively reply to Tweets until the 26th June. During these responses, the majority of suggested actions were to call an 0800 number of visit a defined website.
The bank also reminded customers not to share their personal details on Twitter. This will be a significant reason why we cannot identify further support provision through Twitter.
7. Identification of Support Giver
Key Insight: Using HootSuite, NatWest was able to assign support giver ID’s to it responses adding a small ‘personal touch’ to the customer response messages.
The majority of NatWest tweets were handled through HootSuite, with the occasional update from the Twitter website. A number of support givers were identified using the standard initial ‘tag’. CM, AF, DS & DP seemed to handle the majority of the responses during this time.
05 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
Conclusions
Whilst this is only a snapshot of the NatWest Twitter activity over this period of disruption, it is clear that customers actively followed the bank and mentioned the bank during the key days of disruption. The leap in mentions, and extension of branch opening hours was not matched with an extension of Twitter presence until the crisis was almost over.
Tracking over 800 clicks [through Bit.ly] for one help message tweeted at the weekend suggests an active audience on Twitter seeking help. The lack of increased action by the bank was a missed opportunity to further support the customers who had made their presence known through following and messaging.
This lack of active response on Twitter could be detrimental to long term customer engagement and customer loyalty. Research from BirdSong suggests an overlap in the number of Twitter users following more than one bank. Whilst the number of overlapping customers is small, the potential for customer engagement from and migration to a rival bank is something not to be ignored.
In future, NatWest could benefit from a quicker and more visible reaction to the socially engaged audience. A quicker reaction, more visible presence past office hours and more engagement could help NatWest to maintain Twitter as a more valuable [for the customer] support channel and decrease the potential for additional negative publicity and customer migration.
06 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
76 Twitter users follow both Natwest and Santander.
208 users follow both Natwest and Lloyds TSB
151 Twitter users follow both Natwest and Barclays.
About BirdSong
Birdsong is a social media reconnaissance tool delivering on demand insights and analysis of what brands are doing on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest It has been designed to help agencies and clients in marketing, advertising, digital, media and PR identify strategic opportunities for optimizing their use of these important social channels.
Our report suites are tailored to each platform:
Birdsong Facebook offers updates on activity on any Facebook fan page by brand. It gives a comparison of the number of fans with other brands in the same sector and analyses posting behavior and activity in detail.
Birdsong Twitter provides key metrics for any Twitter account including follower profiles, tweeting patterns, tweet mix and activity timeline.
All reports are available on demand on a cost per credit basis.
Learn more at www.birdsongdtt.com
07 / How NatWest handled their June 2012 banking crisis on Twitter
www.birdsongdtt.com / July 2012
www.birdsongdtt.com
How NatWest failed to support customers on Twitter during the computer crisis of June 2012.
