There is a need for Philippine banks  to improve their ability to integrate and utilize social media.
This was cited by an  online research which showed that the country ranked third among four Southeast Asian countries surveyed on banks’ preparedness in dealing with retail clients. The research on Bank Readiness Index covered more  a thousand consumers and a hundred banks in eight countries across the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The study was commissioned by financial technology solutions firm SunGard and international research and consultancy Celent, and conducted in March to April 2012. The outcome was  compounded into a BRI based on two surveys of 102 banks undertaken by Celent and of 1,073 consumers undertaken by Loudhouse Research. The Southeast Asia Regional BRI got an average score of 254, with Malaysia topping the list followed by Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their respective scores were: Malaysia, 285; Thailand, 263; the Philippines, 236; Indonesia, 231. The Middle East had a Regional BRI of 249, including four countries: Qatar, 340; Kuwait, 305;  Saudi, 248; UAE, 245.
The research utilized 17 parameters and aggregated bank’s capabilities across four metrics, including multi-channel, mobility, social media and customer metrics. An online tool, BRI is  designed to help banks benchmark their ability to meet the needs of retail consumers. Dean Young, vice president of Product Management at SunGard’s Ambit Retail Banking business unit, said that while Philippines performed well in multi-channel and customer metrics capability, it scored low on social media. “One of the areas that were found to be lacking among the Philippine banks surveyed was around their use of social media and mobility, which today, as this research shows, are a vital requirement in how consumers want to interact with their bank,” he said.