# Account records, from the application to the day they can go

> An agreement, a direct debit mandate and the checks you ran when the account opened may all have to be produced on request, sometimes years after the account has closed. folio will keep them together under the account, and dispose of them when you're allowed to.

Source: https://unforged.ai/folio/use-cases/finance-and-lending

Who it's for: Finance and lending. What it's filed by: the account.

## Where it goes wrong today

Lending and payments teams answer to auditors and to the regulator, and both want the document as it was on the day, not a copy someone tidied up later.

Records also have to go once you no longer need them, and doing that by hand across several systems is slow and easy to get wrong.

## What folio will do

- **Retain**: Agreements, mandates and onboarding checks will be kept for each account until the period you set ends.
- **Find**: You'll be able to search by account number, customer name or the words inside the documents.
- **Hold**: If a complaint or a dispute is open, you'll be able to place a hold on the account, and nothing in it will be disposed of until two people release it.
- **Account**: Every view, change and disposal will go in your ledger, and you'll be able to export it for your auditors.

## What you'll set up

1. Make a retention class for each kind of account record, and decide which of them should be Locked, so nobody will be able to delete them early.
2. Create a folder for each account, named by your account number.
3. File agreements and mandates from your own systems through the API as each account opens, with the account number as the matter.
4. Point a webhook at your systems, so you'll hear when a record is filed or disposed of.

## A day with folio

- **08:45** Overnight, the day's new agreements will have been filed from your own systems, each with its receipt.
- **11:00** A customer complains about a payment taken under a mandate. You'll search the account number and have the signed mandate in seconds.
- **14:30** The complaint is escalated, so you'll place a hold on the account until it's closed.
- **16:00** Accounts that closed long enough ago will reach the end of their class, and folio will dispose of their records, with each disposal in the ledger.

If you file a Nib check, folio will keep its verdict exactly as it was recorded, along with where it came from. folio won't claim to have verified anything itself.

## Where your periods come from

The [Money Laundering Regulations 2017](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/40) set the period for customer due diligence records, and [UK GDPR](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/article/5) asks you not to keep personal data for longer than you need it.

This page is general information, not legal advice. How long each kind of record should stay is your professional judgement, and folio will hold to whatever you set.

## Read next

- [Answering an audit request](https://unforged.ai/folio/guides/answering-an-audit-request)
- [Retention classes](https://unforged.ai/folio/docs/retention-classes)
- [Webhooks](https://unforged.ai/folio/docs/webhooks)
- [Exports, reports and links](https://unforged.ai/folio/docs/exports-and-links)

folio is in private beta. [Tell us what you have to keep](https://unforged.ai/contact?topic=other&product=folio) and we'll set it up with you.