Facebook wants to become your job board of choice and your online bank, as it vies to drive engagement, utility and users' virtual homepage on the web and mobile.

The social network is supporting an innovative app (now in beta) from Australia's Commonwealth Bank, which would enable customers to make payments to third parties and Facebook friends on the site, using its own authentication system, as it currently does for its online customers and its CommBank Kaching mobile app users.

"There are certain things, whether itʼs financial services, or banking where I donʼt necessarily want my friends to know exactly what Iʼm doing, right? I want to be able to go in and have an experience with my advisor or my bank and have that be a one-on-one experience," said David Robinson, Facebook's director of global marketing solutions, U.S. financial services, to Fortune.

While Facebook declined to confirmed other banks it's working on virtual banking services with, a spokesperson did comment to Fortune: "Facebook is a platform and a partnership company. We are supportive of brands and agencies, across industries, using the platform to better serve their customers."Continue reading...

The vast majority of wealth managers and private banks are dealing quite “clumsily” with social media according to a recent study of 50 leading private banks and wealth management firms by Swiss consulting firm assetinum.com.

“Amateurish” social media strategies, “hibernation” on Facebook and “tokenism attitudes” towards Twitter and YouTube are abundant.

Of the institutions assessed on a 100-point scale, the average score was 43 points. Twenty-seven of the firms did not reach half the maximum points in the Facebook category; 25 fell short in the website and mobile category; 25 scored less than half in the Twitter assessment, and for YouTube and LinkedIn the scores were 29 and 21.

While 42 out of 50 banks have Twitter accounts, just 26 are active in response to posts and only 13 posted content about wealth management. Nineteen banks have blogs with only six of those interacting proactively with consumers.Continue reading...

BMW projected to beat Mercedes-Benz for US luxury crown.

PepsiCo reportedly mulls layoffs and salary freeze to appease Wall Street.

Kodak bankruptcy report in WSJ slams stock price.

Apple hires Adobe exec to oversee iAds, threatens to sue company behind Steve Jobs doll and rises at Foxconn's expense.

Australia's Commonwealth Bank crowdsources customer ideas.

Arm & Hammer ordered to pull TV commercial criticizing cat litter competitor.

Audi's China sales outstrip Germany.

Boeing closes premier factory in Wichita.

Burberry is now the most popular luxury brand on Facebook, as YouTube, MTV and Coca-Cola lead in FB engagement.Continue reading...