It’s time to welcome WhatsApp into the World of Mortgages.

by Freddie Savundra - Founder & CEO • 13 October 2022



Data Security and abiding by GDPR have been the two main concerns when it comes to Firms looking at deploying WhatsApp for their Business. Of the 500 or so Firms we’ve spoken to this year, at least half have admitted that they believe their Staff may be using WhatsApp outside of the bounds of GDPR. That’s a staggering figure and it’s time we start to see a better framework introduced by the ICO when it comes to adopting Social Media as a form of Sales Communication. The FCA to their credit are ahead of the game here, they have welcomed debate in this sector and have highlighted the importance of abiding by Data Retention and Security Policies. So, where to start....



img

 

Legitimate Interest


So let’s start with the bad news. LI won’t help you here. Technically you need to be capturing consent, from your clients, to contact them through WhatsApp. Your can’t rely on PECR and LI here to skate under the radar. Fortunately, there is a workaround. If you contact your clients to gain permission to send them messages through WhatsApp (with the Mortgage Market the way it is, there has never been a better time for automated Instant Messaging) then our experience has shown that clients actually prefer contact this way, and will respect your brand more for asking the question.





img

 

Once you’ve captured Consent


The hard work is done at this point. You’re next focus should then shift to Data Retention, GDPR Erasure Requests and auditing your staff.

Fortunately, there’s a solution here. Meet Parker’s Messaging System means inbound and outbound WhatsApp messages go through a Ticketing System. That means each chat can be assigned up to thousands of different staff automatically, but you as a Business retain oversight over every single message sent and received.





img

 

Retention


You are then in control of one of the most powerful retention platforms in the world. That means you can automate and schedule any number of messages to clients to let them know their rate is coming to an end, they need to remortgage, a rate has been pulled or a new product has been released. The sky is the metaphorical and metaversal limit.





img

 

Cross Referrals


You can stretch Legitimate Interest a fair amount here, cross referring Life Insurance and General Insurance Products, especially given it’s a Condition of the Mortgage Offer for Building Insurance to be in place (usually).





img

 

What does it Cost


At Meet Parker, our plans start from as little as £150pm. WhatsApp are very open about their pricing structure here, messages cost between £0.02 and 0.05 per message. The Return on Investment here is huge, with the average uptake around 90% based on what we have seen in the ecommerce space.

Meet Parker have a documented Data Security Policy here when it comes to WhatsApp. Take a look here.



Book a WhatsApp Session







This list is formed from Meet Parker’s own experiences, conversations and feedback from advisers. It is only a small snapshot of technology in the industry and no recommendations are being made for the use of any product, supplier or system.