Now that Oprah’s Twittering, it may feel like the whole world has suddenly jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. A number of financial services firms, however, have been using Twitter for more than year a now, as a vehicle for both promotion and customer service. We’ve been interviewed on the subject recently by publications as diverse as USA Today and Wall Street & Technology and we discussed it in last year’s Social Media report. Wachovia, one of the first firms we track to establish a Twitter presence, has used Twitter to answer customer questions and, of late, post updates regarding its merger with Wells Fargo.

Up until recently we had not seen any firms using Twitter as an extension of traditional private site functions. This month, however, Zecco announced that customers could now receive account alerts as direct messages through Twitter. Twitter seems like an ideal portal for alerts. Active Twitter users check their accounts throughout the day, both on their computer and on their cell phone, meaning that the chances of them seeing an account alert are high. And for Zecco, a firm that generally attracts younger, computer-savvy customers, the new Twitter alerts allow the firm to integrate its brand and service with a product many of its customers likely use.

Of course, there was more than just Twittering going during a busy April that saw a number of major changes.

With credit still tight, credit card firms are finding new ways of marketing their products and services. Discover introduced a “Cash Over” option that allows cardholders to request a specific amount over the purchase price of a transaction, and receive the difference in cash. Bank of America and American Express are providing useful resources to aid customers in monitoring their credit. Bank of America added a new sitelet that helps customers track their credit score and protect against identity theft. American Express partnered with FICO to create a new public site consumer resource center that offers tips for managing credit accounts. Perhaps thinking of better times ahead, American Express also introduced a new sitelet advertising special deals and recommended destinations for card holders visiting Paris.

As tax time came and went, a number of firms actively promoted their IRAs and reminded customers of the April 15 contribution deadline. The approaches firms used to promote their IRAs, however, differed greatly. Bank of America added two IRA calculators – Eligibility and Roth IRA Conversion Analyzer – to its private site. Ameriprise Financial added a new tax center to its public site that encouraged users to contribute to their IRAs. Charles Schwab posted images throughout its public and private sites reminding users that April 15 was fast approaching.

A number of firms revamped or made significant improvements to their websites in April. Van Kampen revamped its public, private and advisor sites with an improved navigational structure and new multimedia content; Van Kampen’s new website is the subject of this month’s Mutual Fund Monitor Report. American Century and Dreyfus unveiled redesigned public homepages, and Wells Fargo reformatted its private site Account Activity page.