Audio Recording of Financial Appointments in a High Street Bank

dunstonh

Currently most banks (I'd like to say all companies) will have data retention policies in place and require various teams attest to the fact they are not retaining any records more than 6 or 7 years - whatever the standard is.  The same would apply to recordings particularly where there is no longer a relationship with the customer.

Except that in areas of regulated product sales, the expectation is that data is retained indefinitely.  

Not being a current customer doesn't prevent the person from complaining 30 years down the road about a product put in place back then.  I would say most banks would attest that they retain some data longer than 6-7 years.  It is logical.  Legal liability and the FOS effectively force them to.

How do you think they produce documentation for sales made 20-30 years ago?

I bet that, in this case, the staff member was a regulated individual or planned to go through the in-house investment options, and that was the reason for the recording.    If no sale came from the meeting, the recording would be deleted within the timescales you mentioned.  If a sale of a product came from it, then the recording, along with all other documentation, would be electronically stored indefinitely.

400ixl

MickyPalTaog said:

I asked what the purpose of the recording was and was told "training and monitoring". I again declined to give consent, citing my own case of being a former NHS clinical practitioner, and that it would simply not be allowed to record a medical consultation, regardless of how useful it may possibly be in training, identifying issues etc.

What do the forum feel about this ? 

You are incorrect in your belief that medical consultations cannot be recorded. A huge number are and are done so legally every day.

You are making a drama out of nothing and only limiting yourself IMO. You can decline, at which point the other party is within their rights to proceed no further.

Given the limitation on being able to protect their staff, they are quitye right to send you on your way.

surreysaver

400ixl said:

MickyPalTaog said:

I asked what the purpose of the recording was and was told "training and monitoring". I again declined to give consent, citing my own case of being a former NHS clinical practitioner, and that it would simply not be allowed to record a medical consultation, regardless of how useful it may possibly be in training, identifying issues etc.

What do the forum feel about this ? 

You are incorrect in your belief that medical consultations cannot be recorded. A huge number are and are done so legally every day.

You are making a drama out of nothing and only limiting yourself IMO. You can decline, at which point the other party is within their rights to proceed no further.

Given the limitation on being able to protect their staff, they are quitye right to send you on your way.

Can definitely record medical consultations. Because everything is done verbally with no written record being given to a patient, patients cannot be expected to retain information discussed during a consultation. Therefore it makes perfect sense for them to record it 

400ixl

Most basic and common medical recording is for dictation and has been done for decades. Implemented many a solution for doing it with specialist medical voice to text software.

aroominyork

I am with the OP on this. It feels like being in a police interview. If the bank want evidence they gave a customer certain information, can't that be done by the customer signing a form confirming they had received the info?

35har1old

MickyPalTaog said:

I would like to raise an issue I have encountered with the HBOS Banking Group. I had an appointment with an advisor in branch. I was intending to move a sum of money from a standard savings account to one with a higher interest rate. I have been banking with this High Street Bank for more than twenty years.

The Advisor informed before we started the consultation that the discussion would be recorded (audio) and could I give consent to this. I declined to give consent, as I see no need for a discussion around a simple financial transaction to be recorded. The Advisor then stated that the consultation could not then proceed. I asked what the purpose of the recording was and was told "training and monitoring". I again declined to give consent, citing my own case of being a former NHS clinical practitioner, and that it would simply not be allowed to record a medical consultation, regardless of how useful it may possibly be in training, identifying issues etc.

The Advisor then referred the issue to a senior manager in the branch, who also explained to me that the consultation would not proceed as I had not given consent to the recording.

I have placed this as formal complaint with HBOS, emphasising that I was being denied access to HBOS Services (higher interest rates) due to declining to be recorded. I then requested that the bank respond in writing to me and also detail ; 

1. Who has access to these audio recordings

2. How are they stored, and in which format

3. For how long are they stored and retained

4. How are these recordings destroyed and what is the process/timetable to ensure that they are not retained further than required 

. 

I received a call the next day, the objective seemingly, to close the issue / complaint down as having been resolved ? The resolution from the bank's point of view, being that as they had relayed their policy of compulsory recording there was nothing further to add. I then made it clear that I did not agreed to closing this complaint as I had not received anything in writing explaining their policy and justification for withdrawing service from customers who do not consent to audio recordings. Yesterday I received an e-mailed letter stating ; 

"We didn’t refuse or decline your request to open a Savings account Your recent email advises you’ve been denied access to higher interest rates as we refused to allow you to open a Savings account. I’m unable to agree with this statement as it was yourself who refused to allow us to record the interaction which in turn led to you being unable to open an account in branch" 

I do believe HBOS are legally allowed to record financial appointments. I also believe customers have the right to decline recording and that this does not preclude access to HBOS Services.

What do the forum feel about this ? 

Phone call was likely recorded

MEM62

MickyPalTaog said:

The Advisor informed before we started the consultation that the discussion would be recorded (audio) and could I give consent to this. 

Unusual but no something I would have an issue with.  I do not really understand your objection.  A  recording is a recoding, it is not something that can be manipulated or used to your disadvantage.  

MickyPalTaog said:

I again declined to give consent, citing my own case of being a former NHS clinical practitioner, and that it would simply not be allowed to record a medical consultation, regardless of how useful it may possibly be in training, identifying issues etc.

The fact that it is not allowed in the NHS is irrelevant.  Or do your think that all institutions, regardless of their nature or industry, should all follow the same protocols as the NHS?

MickyPalTaog said:

I have placed this as formal complaint with HBOS, emphasising that I was being denied access to HBOS Services (higher interest rates) due to declining to be recorded.

No, you were not.  You could have opened the account via another method.  Online or over the phone, for example.  

MickyPalTaog said:

I then requested that the bank respond in writing to me and also detail ; 

1. Who has access to these audio recordings

2. How are they stored, and in which format

3. For how long are they stored and retained

4. How are these recordings destroyed and what is the process/timetable to ensure that they are not retained further than required 

Questions that are all irrelevant on the basis that you did not consent to the recording.  

MickyPalTaog said:

I do believe HBOS are legally allowed to record financial appointments. I also believe customers have the right to decline recording and that this does not preclude access to HBOS Services.

I would agree.

MickyPalTaog said:

What do the forum feel about this ? 

I feel that you are being over-sensitive to being recorded.  You have a 20 year relationship with this bank and trust them with your money but you do not trust them with a recoding.  This make no sense.

That said, it is absolutely your perogative to refuse.  However, I do not see that you have cause for complaint in respect of any inconvenience that your refusal led to as, after all, that was your choice.      

boingy

Nationwide have got records about me all the way back to the late 80's when I first opened an account with them. They have my original application form, transcripts of phone conversations, meeting notes, the lot. They also have phone recordings of me but they didn't start until a few years later. The point is, they keep everything pretty much forever and it's not against GDPR.

If you, or anyone else, wants to know exactly what info a bank holds about you then make a Subject Access Request and be prepared to receive a lot of data.

BooJewels

I can concur about the SAR @boingy - when my husband changed jobs a few years ago, his new employer must have done a SAR to HMRC in respect of his employment history - no idea why - but the output was sent to our address but with the boss's name on.  When they didn't receive it, they must have repeated the process.  Both packages were almost a full ream of paper - every single payslip detail for over 40 years, every P11D, P45 and P60.  What a waste of resources - although with some thought to formatting it could have been halved.

Kim_13

MickyPalTaog said:

I then requested that the bank respond in writing to me and also detail ; 

1. Who has access to these audio recordings

2. How are they stored, and in which format

3. For how long are they stored and retained

4. How are these recordings destroyed and what is the process/timetable to ensure that they are not retained further than required 

Questions that are all irrelevant on the basis that you did not consent to the recording.  

MickyPalTaog said:

I do believe HBOS are legally allowed to record financial appointments. I also believe customers have the right to decline recording and that this does not preclude access to HBOS Services.

I would agree.

MickyPalTaog said:

What do the forum feel about this ? 

I feel that you are being over-sensitive to being recorded.  You have a 20 year relationship with this bank and trust them with your money but you do not trust them with a recoding.  This make no sense.

That said, it is absolutely your perogative to refuse.  However, I do not see that you have cause for complaint in respect of any inconvenience that your refusal led to as, after all, that was your choice.      

Surely those questions are relevant - the answers may determine whether someone who is not as open to being recorded will then give their consent. Perhaps they should have been asked at the appointment though - I would expect them to have a written policy somewhere that the customer could read.

I’d argue that providing the information from the outset would be good practice for the bank - if the customer doesn’t have that information, they might have said yes, but I wouldn’t call it informed consent. 

The complaint that should be pursued if any is the travel expenses incurred in attending the branch (which may well be further away then it was a few years ago, due to branch closures on the part of the bank) / lack of forewarning that an appointment can only proceed if you consent to the recording. You expect to be recorded for training and monitoring purposes if you phone up, and you expect to be recorded by CCTV if you visit the branch, but this is the first I’ve heard of audio recordings in branch. If the OP knew that they had no choice but to be audio recorded, they would have stayed home (and presumably opened the account online; as others have pointed out, the alternative channel was there and will have undermined the previous complaint. They didn’t refuse the account - no account was applied for due to the appointment not going ahead.)The mileage in any complaint though will depend on how the appointment was arranged - if you went to the branch, asked to change your account and someone was immediately available to see you, then they couldn’t have made known their terms of business any sooner.

If refusing consent results in an appointment being terminated, the bank should prominently display that consultations will be audio recorded for the purposes of training and monitoring and not do the whole consent thing. There’s no point in asking if it’s non-negotiable from their side and there will only be so many appointments available - if the bank did that, then only those willing to be recorded would book them.