NatWest Group has told employees to only use “approved channels” for business conversations, blocking WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype across company devices.

Following a previous warning, the banking group has made the platforms inaccessible on work devices, including phones and computers, to prevent workers from using them to communicate about business matters.

Non-approved communication channels are of concern as messages can be more difficult to retrieve and can even be set to disappear, making it a challenge to recall messages for investigations into any wrongdoing.

“Like many organisations, we only permit the use of approved channels for communicating about business matters, whether internally or externally,” the bank said in a statement.

While the policy came into effect earlier this month, it follows the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announcing that it would consider a probe into how bank sector employees use messaging services in relation to their work.

Ofgem, the UK’s independent energy regulator, even fined Morgan Stanley for breaching record-keeping regulations for phone calls made on private devices over WhatsApp.

WhatsApp has been under similar lime light for its use in the public sector, with the UK Covid inquiry revealing deleted WhatsApp messages that were exchanged during the pandemic between ministers and government officials.

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon also faced backlash for deleted WhatsApp messages, though she denied any secrecy from the public.

Following the public inquiry, the Scottish government began its own internal audit on the use of different messaging applications by staff to see if they are compliant with regulations.