ASB joins Chinese social media platform

ASB Bank has joined the Chinese social media platform Weibo, in a move that sees it become the first bank in New Zealand to do so.

The creation of its own profile on the network coincides with New Zealand's Chinese New Year celebrations. The bank has created its own Mandarin symbol for Chinese customers to attribute to the company.

The symbol means 'winning and success' in English, and the Chinese character will be used on ASB's Weibo posts.

Logan Munro, ASB general manager branch and international banking, says the bank is thrilled to join the Chinese social media platform, seeing it as a great way to interact with New Zealand's burgeoning migrant market.

"New Zealand is a wonderfully diverse multi-cultural nation, with a growing migrant population," Munro says.

"A growing number of ASB's customers are Chinese or are of Chinese origin and it makes sense to connect with our customers in their own language," he says.

"We're thrilled to be the first bank in New Zealand to obtain a verified Weibo account and we look forward to extending our suite of Chinese social media to better connect with our Chinese customers," Munro adds.

Munro says with an already large social media following, ASB is looking forward to increasing its online presence in a new language.

The platform will be used to converse with migrant Chinese customers, providing information on the bank's news, sponsorships, campaigns and reports.

ASB has a dedicated team to ensure all messaging and content is sensitive to Chinese custom, Munro says.