Having previously been asked to stick to approved communication channels to discuss business matters, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have both now been made completely inaccessible on Natwest’s business devices.
For banks especially, keeping business communication to approved channels is vital, when there are important regulations that need to be adhered to with regard to the logging and storing of information.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) probe
It was reported back in August, that the FCA are considering a probe into how those who work in banks use messaging services, especially following Morgan Stanley receiving fines for calls being made via WhatsApp, which breached record-keeping regulations. WhatsApp has a lack of archiving possibilities, as well as the ability for users to send ‘disappearing messages’ which only appear to the recipient for a brief time before disappearing from view forever.
A lack of accountability
Another example of WhatsApp being used, and a paper trail being lost, is the use of WhatsApp by MPs regarding Covid. Between the messages being sent about creating important public health messaging, and the enquiry into Covid’s handling, 5000 messages were lost by then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. This isn’t a political comment, but it is a really good demonstration for business owners as to why the use of communication apps such as WhatsApp for business matters could end up to prove costly – even if youre business isn’t subject to FCA regulations!
Imagine if you had to investigate something serious, but all employee WhatsApp messages simply disappeared. You’re left with no paper trail whatsoever, which could mean no evidence were a customer to accuse your business of something serious.
What’s the alternative?
We’ve written about why using WhatsApp could be a costly mistake for small businesses before, and mentioned the recommended use of Microsoft Teams as a tool for messaging and communication.
Not only is it designed specifically for business use with strong security features, archiving possibilities and data loss protection, but it’s fully compliant with GDPR when it comes to the storage of archived information, which can help avoid expensive fines in future.
While messaging apps can be incredibly useful, as evidenced by Natwest’s approach to banning the both WhatsApp and Facebook manager on business devices, their use can be detrimental to businesses when not all features/ lack of features aren’t fully considered.
If you’re a small business looking to ensure your communication is compliant with regulations as well as being easy-to-use for your team and archived safely – please do get in touch, we can chat about how you can configure Microsoft Teams and integrate it into business use, for maximum effectiveness across your organisation.
Further Reading: Whatsapp use at work could be a costly mistake
