As banks continue to face fines over the use of third-party messaging apps, HSBC has moved to block staff from texting on their work phones.

The move is more than a directive, with the bank reportedly kicking off the process of disabling the function on employees' company-issued devices. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, staff devices will be unable to send or receive text messages and the ban will apply across the entire bank.

The bank had already blocked staff from using Meta-owned WhatsApp on work phones, while personal devices remain unaffected.

Some staff in regulated roles, the report notes, will still be able to send text messages on phones where the messages are archived.

In comments to the outlet, a spokesperson for the British bank said: “Banks use a wide range of approved channels to communicate in compliance with regulatory obligations. HSBC, like many other banks, reviews and adjusts functionality on its corporate devices as needed.”

HSBC was one of the implicated banks in the fallout from a scandal surrounding the use of unauthorised messaging apps in the banking sector including WhatsApp.

The bank earlier this year agreed to pay $30 million to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and another $15 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other firms including Barclays, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, paid a collective sum of more than $2.5 billion to US regulators for violating the country’s recordkeeping rules.

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