Finextra have been advertising the whitepaper relating to the need for financial services companies to record mobile phones for some weeks now and the response from the finance industry has been over whelming. There is clearly a high degree of interest in this topic and one that has been recognised in this weeks FT with the news that the FSA in the UK is insisting on all client orders in financial services to be recorded within the next few years. It also makes the point that mobile phones will be included in the future as technology has been developed to cover the mobile phone gap. Well the news that the FSA is beginning to knock on the door of financial services firms will be music to the ears of Compliant Phones. They have been live with their mobile phone recording system for some months and a number of different banks are heavily involved in trialling.

The regulatory push into mandatory recording of orders was made strongly in the whitepaper and it was estimated that the FSA would be making a strong move into mobiles in the not to distant future. Well, it looks as though the time is nigh! 

Let's face it the recording of phones (including mobiles) has been going on for some considerable time by our security forces. The issues around personnel liberty are of some concern and I doubt that they will ever be resolved to anyone's satisfaction. However, with the rough comes the smooth and a new age of client services, could spring up if the customer has the security of a recorded conversation to protect them from scurrilous salesman.

On the whole I believe that the recording of telephones and mobiles in particular, is a welcome addition to the financial services, systems architecture, with only the dodgy and those with criminal intent really at risk. There is a well  know mantra in business "the customer is always right"  with this new armoury, pretty soon the customer may be able to prove it!