NatWest blocks apps including WhatsApp from work devices

NatWest has blocked messaging platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype on corporate devices amid the wider industry clampdown on staff misusing apps at work.

The UK banking group said it wants its employees to stick to “approved channels” for work-related communication.

Staff have been advised for several years not to use certain channels for talking about business matters, although people have not been prohibited from doing so.

But as of earlier this month, some apps have been blocked from company phones and computers so staff cannot use them at all.

A spokesman for NatWest said: “Like many organisations, we only permit the use of approved channels for communicating about business matters, whether internally or externally.”

Approved communication channels, which include email and text, have retrievable records which the company can draw upon if it needs to scrutinise messages or it suspects any wrongdoing.

With unapproved apps, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, it can be more difficult to retrieve messages.

Some of the largest banks in the US have faced fines from the country’s financial regulator over concerns that staff were using unofficial communication channels which avoid oversight.

JP Morgan agreed to pay a 125 million US dollars (£98 million) fine in 2021 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after admitting that its employees often communicated about business matters through personal devices, such as text and WhatsApp.

In the UK banks have faced scrutiny, although the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has not taken any enforcement action against firms.

Harvey Knight, a partner in the UK financial services regulatory team at law firm Withers, said: “It is just a matter of time before the FCA follows the SEC’s lead and fines UK banks and bankers for using communication channels to send business messages that cannot be recovered easily.

“It is no surprise that a leading UK bank such as NatWest is taking pre-emptive action to stop such potential business record-keeping issues being made their liability by their UK regulators.”