In this day and age of texting being the preferred communication (not by everyone, but A LOT) has there been any regulatory guidance (that I have missed) on what should be obtained prior to this type of communication? I know there are a lot of "what ifs" and there is risk involved, but really there is risk in any type of communication. At least texted info you have (or can get) documentation of what was said, when in an actual conversation it is a he said, she said unless it is recorded.

Is it really a "best practice" rather than a "requirement" for texting?

What type of communications? And if you are talking about just letting employees text customers about anything, talk to your legal counsel as it how you are going to maintain text records for litigation purposes and possibly other mandated retention requirements based on the subject. Exactly how do you plan on doing this? "At least texted info you have (or can get) documentation of what was said". With a subpoena to the phone company?

Texting is covered by the TCPA so there is some guidance there.

Getting records of texts is going to be pretty difficult if you aren't issuing the devices the employees are using.

and there have been a number of cases recently where bank and brokerage personnel were using encrypted text software (Signal, WhatsApp) to communicate with their clients, which is not allowed under SEC guidelines, and some hefty fines were given. just not something that really should be done.

HappyG are you saying BANKS are getting fines for texting using the text software? Our LOS offers this software and we are looking at it now. On what grounds are banks getting fined?

Randy posted a link above, but it has to do with retention of records

We are looking into a check fraud solution that has a texting element to it. If there is a questionable item, the customer can be notified with information about the item presented on their account (incoming check) and can approve or decline the item. Customer can also opt-out of receiving these notifications. This would be subject to TCPA, correct? And this would be something we'd want to understand retention of records for as well, correct? Could they be produced?

I never did reply to this, but I do appreciate the information. The system we are going with will retain records for all communication through text.