- WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to be banned for NatWest internal communications
- You can still contact customer service via WhatsApp.
- Financial Conduct Authority fines Morgan Stanley for irreparable conversations
One of the UK's largest banks has banned its employees from using instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger.
NatWest had previously asked workers to ensure they used “approved channels” but has now gone a step further and made messaging platforms inaccessible from company-issued devices.
While WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are encrypted, they can also be set to disappear or be difficult to recover, but financial institutions must comply with record-keeping regulations and have recoverable communications.
Strict regulations
“Like many organisations, we only allow the use of approved channels to communicate business matters, whether internally or externally,” a NatWest statement confirmed.
The Financial Conduct Authority is reportedly paying particular attention to the issue of unmonitored communications, prompting NatWest to take steps to protect itself from the regulations.
The rules are intended to prevent market abuse and misconduct, but the use of third-party messaging apps has made them more difficult to enforce, especially with greater numbers of people working from home. The bank still offers WhatsApp as a means of contact for customers and for assistance with banking queries, but the platform is prohibited for internal communications.
This comes after a huge fine of almost £5.5m was imposed on Morgan Stanley when Ofgem found the bank had breached rules on recorded communications after staff used WhatsApp for business communications.
Many Britons will remember that the recent COVID inquiry revealed mass deletion of WhatsApp messages by ministers and government officials, on an “industrial scale”.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the inquiry that he lost around 5,000 messages, which were never recovered, illustrating the untrustworthy nature of third-party messaging apps (and politicians).
Via Agency