The digital revolution has transformed the banking industry. As financial services and associated communications move online, it is more important than ever for institutions to manage and control their online presence.

The financial sector is held to the highest standards of compliance. When it comes to maintaining records of online communications — whether it's website content, social media posts, or even Microsoft teams chats — financial services providers are accountable to government and industry regulators, and of course, stakeholders.

Given this reality, website and social media archiving has become a crucial concern for the modern banking sector. In this article, we will discuss five reasons why banks should be archiving their websites and social media presence.

5 Crucial Reasons Banks Need to Archive Their Websites and Social Media

1. Meeting Industry Regulations (and Avoiding Huge Fines)

Financial institutions are held to some of the highest standards of compliance levelled at any industry. And with good reason — it’s vitally important to ensure that safety, trust and ethical practises are maintained within the sector. Recordkeeping plays a huge role in this, and the data generated by websites and through social media falls squarely under this remit. Correctly retaining and preserving this online data is essential.

The SEC and FINRA govern US recordkeeping regulations. Under these regulations, financial service organizations have to preserve, capture, and moderate content from their social media, website, text messages, and enterprise collaboration platforms.

Similarly, the FCA for the UK and ASIC for Australia dictate that banks should maintain clear and fair communication. They must ensure all content posted or published falls within established and accepted parameters.

While social media post may not feel like an advertisement, it is in the eyes of regulators. To guard against false advertising challenges (including those fraudulently fabricated as the result of screenshot manipulation) it’s essential to have a clear, accurate, and authentic record of all official content your firm has posted.

As social media and digital marketing communications have become ubiquitous, regulators are cracking down on financial service providers that are not maintaining accurate records of their digital communications.

In recent years, fines of up to $125 million have been levied against dozens of large financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Wells Fargo for failing to keep accurate digital communication records.

It's clear that financial regulatory bodies are watching and ready to issue massive fines and penalties for non-compliance with SEC & FINRA recordkeeping rules and requirements. The cost of being caught without necessary records could be many millions of dollars.

But the damage isn't merely financial. The knock-on effect to the business' reputation can be profound and long-lasting. The mere insinuation of non-compliance can lead to a loss of client trust, potentially resulting in a dwindling customer base and negative media attention.

Moreover, dealing with non-compliance can strain your internal resources. It often requires a comprehensive internal audit, potentially necessitating additional staff or external consultants, not to mention the possible adoption and implementation of new systems to ensure future compliance.

2. Improving Information Governance

The 2020s set in motion a massive evolution of information governance, from simple documents record management to a more comprehensive, outcome-oriented approach. Perspectives have expanded and it’s now generally acknowledged that information governance extends far beyond compliance. It encompasses security needs, inherent information values and encourages agility, as means of changing and growing the organization.

For banks, information governance is vital. It enables the delivery of valuable business data to the right stakeholders, at the right time, and in the right place. It’s through improved information governance that banks are able to leverage their data to the best business advantage.

Through well-ordered information governance banks can also enjoy more instantaneous and accurate eDiscovery. This allows financial institutions to minimize business risks and enhance the accuracy of stored information through improved archival procedures.

Information governance also contributes an economic benefit, enabling a system that requires less time for the location of specific information, minimizing risks associated with poorly managed data.

3. Preparing for Litigation

The increasing use of mobile text content, enterprise collaboration, social media, and website content in litigation has brought issues of authentication around digital communications to the forefront. In order to prepare well for litigation, it is necessary for legal teams to proactively collect, review and preserve accurate information, as it may well be demanded as evidence in the case of legal proceedings.

eDiscovery is a critical process in the early stages of litigation. Social media platforms generate vast quantities of unstructured electronically stored information, which has a major impact on the legal teams ability to carry out eDiscovery efficiently.

The uncontrollable surge of data produced by social media has made it imperative for organizations to be able to capture, preserve, search and review the data on demand should a legal matter arise.

4. Gain Marketing Insights

Marketing insights are priceless and advanced archiving serves as an incredible learning resource. When you preserve your social media output, websites, and even the deletion, edits, and revisions, you can track exactly what content appeared where, when and in what context in order to assess the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts.

For instance, if you were marketing team noticed a spike in website conversions during a particular period, they can use the archive to check what messaging and images were live at that time.

Having a definitive backup of all your marketing content and output presents an unbeatable advantage. It not only eases your fears of losing historical content, it gives marketing teams a way to analyze changes to your content over time.

If the compliance department is seeking records of recent changes to your website with regard to specific messaging or campaign content, you can easily reproduce exactly how your digital properties looked like on a given date. You can also track exact alterations occurring over a period of time and provide relevant context.

5. Corporate Heritage and Institutional Memory

Banks are among the most long-lived institutions. This factor alone necessitates the preservation of their history, and one cannot underrate the important role digital history plays here. Nowadays, the amount of data and digital content that institutions produce is massive.

If the banks do not have a reliable solution for capturing this data, they could risk losing large swaths of institutional memory. This is perhaps one reason behind the growing emphasis on moving the banks' internal activities to the cloud.

How to get a handle on your website and social media archiving

Recordkeeping is a huge responsibility (and opportunity) for the financial industry.

Archiving websites and social media content is not just a regulatory necessity but also a smart business strategy.

Proper archiving helps banks meet regulations, improve information governance, prepare for litigation, gain marketing insights, and preserve their history. These steps ensure compliance, reduce risks, and support long-term success.

By embracing effective archiving solutions, banks can protect their reputation, enhance efficiency, and maintain stakeholder trust. Since digital interaction with the banking sector will only increase in the years to come, it is important for institutions to invest in a reputable, reliable, and compliant archiving partner.