What makes banks scared

Banks suck. We all know it - they are now untouchable monoliths that can treat us badly, take our money and then ask us for a bailout when things go sour. But this isn't news - what is news, for me anyway, is that there is something that scares banks.

Twitter.

Bank customer services are invariably terrible. If you find yourself a victim of their incompetency, good luck with that phone line. After taking 27 turns through their automated system you find yourself waiting and waiting and waiting and...well, then usually nothing. I rarely leave such a situation feeling happy with my bank. But what can you do? We need them and it's such a hassle to change banks and they are all as bad as each other...right?

After discovering @Ask_WellsFargo I feel a little differently. A quick look down the Twitter account finds more apologies than I've ever heard uttered by any bank employees. Ever. Every complaint is met with a sincere apology followed by an invite to DM with the bank to get the problem sorted. I am also guessing that since the Twittering complainees seem to be generally silenced after the @Wells_Fargo message, the complaint is usually dealt with.

So why is Wells Fargo, and Bank of America's @BofA_Help, Ally Bank's @AllyCare and other banks so sorry on Twitter but so ambivalent on the phone?

Because Twitter is loud - complain about @wellsfargo or @bankofamerica service and more than 5,000 other customers see it instantly. And that's bad for business, much worse than a offline burned customer, who may offer some second-hand complaints to 10 people. Online moaning is scary for them, as is the word 'viral' - banks are well aware of what can happen if a heinous act of bank villainy gets out onto the web proper.

Just looking at these banks' attempts to rectify Twitter complaints gives hope to us all. The future is social media and that means hopefully, a bit more of the power is switching to the little guy.