Financial services teams often keep detailed asset and record inventories. A disposal project should be linked to those inventories so the firm can see which media were released, what happened to them and how exceptions were resolved.
Identify all storage in the batch
List laptops, desktops, servers, backup tapes and removable media by site or department. Include printers and imaging equipment that may retain data. Separate leased equipment, devices intended for reuse and media that cannot be read or powered on. Determine the firm's retention and release decision before placing an item in the destruction batch.
Define the required handling
Decide whether each suitable device may be prepared for reuse through verified erasure or whether its storage should be destroyed. Ask how a failed process or a count discrepancy will be reported. The FCA's financial crime guide asks firms how they track digital assets and dispose of documents, computers and imaging equipment; it also prompts firms to satisfy themselves that disposal is competent. That is a prompt for your own due diligence, not a claim that one provider's work makes the firm automatically FCA compliant.
Agree what the evidence will show
Specify the collection site, authorised handover contact and any asset-level identifiers. Confirm the available receipt, processing record and completion evidence before booking. Reconcile them to the firm's original list and document any exceptions. Our records guide sets out the questions to ask.
Send the types and approximate quantities, postcodes and record requirements. We will confirm the proposed scope and availability. Discuss a financial services clearance.
Further reading: FCA financial crime guide, data security.