Banks being innovative with Web 2.0 - surely not?

The usually conservative banking industry is starting to wake up to the fact that Web 2.0 is changing the way their employees and customers interact with each other. It is two Canadian Banks that have taken the lead - Scotiabank and Royal Bank of Canada.

Scotiabank is using technology from Microsoft to introduce an internal Web 2.0 social networking platform aimed at encouraging information sharing and collaboration among its staff. This platform enables employees to share, store, organise, search and manage information using blogs and wikis. As part of the programme, the bank is creating online user profiles for staff members. Commenting on the move, Robert Fournier, SVP, enterprise architecture and methodology, Scotiabank, says: "By leveraging the knowledge and experience of the Scotiabank team with a business focused social networking platform we are enabling staff to better serve customers by sharing best practices and identifying experts and skill sets regardless of geographic and organizational boundaries."

Royal Bank of Canada has  launched a financial advice blog written by students that can be accessed via its fan page on social networking site Facebook. They have selected six full time post-secondary students at Canadian universities to write daily blogs on money management, which along with videos, are available through the bank's Web site as well as the "RBC Bankbook" page on Facebook.

I wonder how many other banks will be taking the same innovative steps, and moving with the times. Living in the UK, with our ultra conservative banking community I fear that these 'innovations' will take many years to filter through!!