Now, use Facebook for your financial transactions

MUMBAI: Banks and stock broking firms are beginning to carry out business on Facebook, an important step as they try to build deeper customer relationships through social media platforms. With nearly 45 million users in India and growing rapidly, Facebook's popularity is making banks test the waters with a few basic services to discover how comfortable customers are carrying out transactions on the social networking site.

ICICI Bank, India's largest private bank, is one of the early movers. Its application lets customers check the balance in accounts; request statements and cheque books; or even upgrade debit cards right from their Facebook home page. "Social media is not a fringe channel and has become an important tool to interact with consumers," said Sujit Ganguly, a general manager at the bank.