TechnologyJan 21 2021

How to manage your WhatsApp and social media risks

  • Describe some of the challenges of advisers using social media with clients
  • Explain the FCA's stance on the issue
  • Describe how to mitigate any effects of using social media
  • Describe some of the challenges of advisers using social media with clients
  • Explain the FCA's stance on the issue
  • Describe how to mitigate any effects of using social media
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How to manage your WhatsApp and social media risks
Pexels/Torsten Detleff

Advice firms should be doing everything they can to protect their own data and that of their clients. And this can include moves such as disabling the use of social channels on company owned devices.

This is not a new approach — many organisations have disabled the use of USB drives or can disable microphones if an unofficial or unapproved video conferencing platforms has been used to make a call. 

Similarly, most firms we have worked with over the years did not permit the use of WhatsApp on company owned devices before the pandemic, although may be looking to relax that policy right now given the current circumstances. 

These tools can be fast and effective methods of communicating with clients, many of whom judge firms by the technology platforms and services they use.

Being available in the channel that your client wishes to communicate with you is becoming increasingly important for effective business development. 

David Cowland, a specialist in the RegTech space, thinks a post-Covid blanket ban on WhatsApp simply is not viable. He says “The younger generation don’t want to use phone and email, and that’s the same for clients”.

If firms want to grow and break into new markets, they should be looking outside traditional channels, following the lead of large retail brands who are increasingly offering customer service communications via digital channels.

As an example, services such as Live Person offer products that enable businesses to use WhatsApp as a communication, marketing and even sales channel.

With this in mind, firms might be better off providing guidance and support to colleagues about how best to use these tools, rather than banning them outright.

IT policies should be very clear on what is and is not allowed. It might be acceptable to use LinkedIn direct messaging for prospecting and arranging a first meeting with a client, but not for sending an existing client their latest investment report, or discussing details about their portfolio.

How to do it right

Some would argue that putting that level of liability on Senior Managers hardly seems fair, given the difficulty with keeping tabs on what employees are up to in this new remote world of work. But this ignores that fact that there are things that firms can do to mitigate risk in this area from afar. 

Build the right culture

We know that misconduct is most likely to happen when employees are not engaged. Remote working exacerbates this risk, so it is important that senior managers and line managers continue to keep people connected, ensuring they do not lose a sense of personal accountability now there is no physical oversight.

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