Building Citi's social media presence.

Frank Eliason, who leads the social media strategy for Citi's consumer bank, recently spoke with Bank Technology News and Reuters about how the company is using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs to connect with customers. The coverage includes a look at how Citi's Twitter presence on @AskCiti, now staffed by 100 employees, serves as a destination for customers needing to resolve account issues and for those seeking more information about products and services.

Eliason discussed how the service effort is evolving, with plans to introduce new solutions on online channels such as "click to chat" and "click to call" this year. "These will allow conversations within places like Twitter to easily shift to secure methods while not taking away from the experience in social media," he told Bank Technology News.

The social media channels also continue to be a valuable source of customer feedback helping to drive improvements. "The most recent update to our mobile banking iPhone application was directly based on feedback in app reviews and other social media spaces such as Twitter," Eliason said.