New financial language developing amongst Twitter users
Barclays has released the new lexicon of financial terminology that is changing traditional banking terms.
The study, based on research of the way people talk about money on social networking site, Twitter, reveals 43 per cent of people think that the informal nature of banking via mobile phones has changed the way people now talk about, and refer to money.
With six in ten ‘Tweeters' using mobile banking to manage their money, (compared to four in ten of the wider UK population using mobile banking), the study found that Twitter users are driving a language change. Most notably, they are replacing the traditional word ‘transfer' to describe the movement of money with other words such as ‘ping', ‘pop', ‘drop' and ‘swipe'. Other informal words and phrases being used to describe money and banking include ‘shrapnel', ‘dosh' and ‘in the black/red'.
Twitter users themselves support the development of this new language, with 63 per cent stating they use informal terms as it's quicker when writing a tweet and 59 per cent have started using these terms in everyday life as a result of tweeting about them.
Sean Gilchrist, Managing Director of Digital Banking at Barclays said: "Innovations and improved functionality in the Barclays.mobi service is making ‘pinging' money around a lot easier. As we embark on a major milestone of 1 million mobile banking transactions in a month, mobile technology is growing at a rate far faster than online banking did when it was first launched.
"It appears that this new banking language is being driven by the phenomenal growth in social media forums, combined with the sheer number of smartphones now available in the market, making the more traditional forms of banking seem outdated for this group of people."
Regional lexicon
Regionally, Twitter users in the West Midlands (52 per cent) and East Anglia (50 per cent) feel strongest that the informal nature of banking via mobile phones has changed the way people now talk about and refer to money. North Easterners are the most likely (78 per cent) to use the informal financial terms in everyday life as a result of tweeting about them. This is compared to just under four in ten (39 per cent) of Scottish ‘Tweeters' and 43 per cent of those in the South West.
Barclays mobile phone banking service allows people to view balances, mini-statements, transfer between Barclays accounts and send payments to a third party. There are also tools such as finding the nearest branch and ATM and currency conversion. It comes with free mobile security software from Kaspesky and the new ‘Layar' collaboration with Barclaycard allows customers using the new Android-powered handset (Galaxy Portal i7500) to use a touch-screen device to access the tools.
To find out more about Barclays mobile phone banking consumers can visit barclays.co.uk.
New lexicon - Meaning
Ping - Transfer/pay
Pop - Transfer/pay
Drop - Transfer/pay
Swipe - Transfer/pay
In the red - Overdrawn
In the black - In credit
Debby - Direct debit
Dosh - Money
Shrapnel - Small amount of money