- WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger will be banned for internal NatWest communications
- You can still reach customer service via WhatsApp
- The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Morgan Stanley for unrecoverable calls
One of Britain’s biggest banks has banned employees from using instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Skype and Facebook Messenger.
NatWest had previously asked employees to ensure they were using ‘approved channels’, but has now gone a step further and made messaging platforms inaccessible from company-issued devices.
Although WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are encrypted, they can also be set to disappear or become difficult to find. However, financial institutions must comply with record-keeping rules and have retrievable communications.
Robust regulations
“Like many organizations, we only allow the use of approved channels for communicating about business matters, both internally and externally,” a NatWest statement confirmed.
The Financial Conduct Authority is reportedly paying particular attention to the issue of uncontrolled communications, which has prompted NatWest to take action to protect itself in relation to regulation.
The rules are intended to prevent market abuse and misconduct, but the use of third-party messaging apps makes them harder to enforce, especially as more people work from home. The bank still offers WhatsApp as a means of contact for customers and for assistance with banking questions, but the platform is prohibited for internal communication.
This comes after Morgan Stanley was hit with a huge fine of almost £5.5 million when Ofgem found the bank had broken recorded communications rules after staff used WhatsApp for trading communications.
Many Britons will remember that the recent COVID investigation found that there had been a massive deletion of WhatsApp messages by government ministers and 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 unreliable nature of third-party messaging apps (and politicians).
Via BBC