World News
Banking Group NatWest Bans WhatsApp for Business Use
UK lender the NatWest Group has reportedly banned the use of messaging services including WhatsApp for business use over compliance concerns.
The firm has made WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype inaccessible on work phones and computers, news agency the BBC reported this week.
The policy had previously been to discourage employees from using these services for conversations about business matters.
The concern is that WhatsApp and other services can be used for conversations without the normal scrutiny that would cover conversations over work email or similar monitored services.
If a ban on WhatsApp becomes a wider trend in the corporate world over these compliance issues, it would remove a convenient channel the bunker industry has come to rely on for its business discussions in recent years.
But, as Ship & Bunker reported earlier this week, parts of the bunker industry have already become wary over the use of WhatsApp for making deals because of concerns over the potential for messages to be edited or deleted after delivery. This leaves the potential for the price in a bunker deal to be agreed and then evidence of that removed or tampered with after the fact, if the details of the deal are not confirmed over email or another channel.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 551.00 | 3.00 | 672.00 | 5.50 |
| Rotterdam | 515.50 | 2.50 | 652.50 | 3.50 |
| Houston | 540.50 | 4.00 | 670.00 | 5.00 |
| Fujairah | 542.50 | 1.00 | 747.00 | 3.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 573.50 | 1.50 | 756.00 | 2.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 537.50 | 1.00 | 685.50 | 1.00 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 624.50 | 0.50 | 801.00 | 0.00 |
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