Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Social Media Channels and Advantages and Disadvantages of Usage

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COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA
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Introduction
The Commonwealth bank of Australia (CBA) is a multinational business, that is, it owns
and controls enterprises in other countries other than its home country (Australia). The bank was
established by the Commonwealth Bank Act of 1911 to receive and carry out general bank-
related business. As early as 1912, the bank started its expansion by opening up its first branch in
Melbourne. In the 1960s and 1970s the bank diversified its operations into other areas such as
travel and insurance. In addition, it become more profoundly involved in international banking,
especially foreign currency exchanges (Attard and Dilley, 2013). During the 1960s the bank
enthusiastically supported the introduction of decimalization process which allowed it to convert
the previous non-decimal currency denominations into the decimal system. Gradually, CBA
transformed its paper records into a new computer-based system. The Commonwealth Bank
formed the first credit card in Australia in 1974 through the introduction of bankcard which was
later used in New Zealand as well. It also established the use of MasterCard and visa when it
started issuing them to its customers.Today, this corporate organization has been expanded into
businesses in New Zealand, the United States, United Kingdom as well as Asia. The bank’s
operations are diversified to cover insurance, institutional banking, Superannuation (pension
services) investment and broking services, funds management and also retail businesses. It is not
only one of the largest Australian corporations listed on the Australian Securities Exchange but it
is also one of the largest banks in the Southern Hemisphere.
CBA’s Social Media Channels

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Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the leading banks in the world that has
incorporated the social media platform in its operations (Miranda et al., 2013). It uses various
channels to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the services offered to its customers as
well as to increase its consumer base (Paquette, 2013).
Facebook
This is one of commonwealth bank’s principal social media channels. Just about a year
after launching its social network operations the commonwealth bank had attracted about 100
thousand viewers on its Facebook page (Wire, 2010). The main aim of creating this Facebook
page was to upsurge customer support.The corporation was seeking new ways to serve and
extend support to its clients (Gavrilova, 2008).The bank uses this platform to increase its
consumer base and enhance its interaction with them thus creating a community among its
customers (Prema and Sudhakar, 2009). CBA’s customer service team replies to any banking
inquiries in real time through its Facebook wall thereby outspreading its consumer
servicesbeyond the old-style branch and phone dealings (Rajesh, 2009). CBA therefore evidently
uses Facebook for marketing and sales enhancement.
Internet Banking
Internet banking, also referred to as online banking is an electronic payment system
(digital currency, for example the virtual currency) that permits the clientele of financial
institutions to carry out banking transactions online via the institution’s website interface. It was
first introduced in 1994 by the Stanford Federal Credit Unit but now operates at a very wide
spectrum in the industry from the traditional financial institutions to banks that exist only online
(Adapa and Cooksey, 2013).

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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia uses NetBank for its online banking. NetBank
increases the efficiency of customer service thus it is assimilated by CBA to increase its sales
(Hassan et al., 2012). NetBank is free to register and provides a simple, fast and convenient way
for a consumer to embark on their online banking. It allows one to access all their bank accounts
under the Commonwealth Bank Group in a single place at any time of the day. Many more
transactions are carried out at a shorter period of time hence vastly increasing the bank’s sales
(Yeow et al., 2008).
Use of Applications
The CommBank Kaching application is a Commonwealth Bank’s application for iPhone
and android phones that allows users to transfer funds to each other through their Facebook
accounts or mobile phones. This app was originally developed for use by iPhone users only but
its android phone version was later released due to the progressively popular android operating
system. This was done to capture the users of android phones thus further increasing the
clienteles of CBA.
The CommBank Kaching application also offers bump payments whereby after bumping
the iPhones together the payment is made promptly. The application can therefore be useful for
partial payments at dinner (splitting the bill) or for recompense to a creditor in case one has no
cash at hand. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has guaranteed a 100 percent security of an
individual’s banking services while using the application. This means that CommBank will be
responsible for any losses made during the course of the dealings or in the event that a person
makes an unauthorized transaction.