If you’re struggling to understand how to show regulators that your business is compliant following the FCA’s recent Consumer Duty proposals, you’re absolutely not the only one.
Aimed at bringing in a higher standard of consumer protection in retail financial markets, the proposals are considered one of the biggest shake-ups in the industry’s responsibility to their consumers for many years. In some cases, it will call for a complete overhaul of not only processes and communications but also training and culture throughout Financial Services firms.
What is the issue for businesses?
Since the guidance was released in December last year, many companies have found it difficult to understand exactly how to show their compliance by the deadline of April 2023, given that the advice is very far-reaching and it can be difficult to understand exactly how to put it into action.
While the update is long overdue from a customer point of view and will no doubt bring in a new level of best practice when it comes to treating customers fairly, the short deadline introduced for implementing the required changes has meant that many companies are concerned they won’t be considered compliant in time. The Times recently released an article highlighting that one of the most influential lobby groups, UK Finance, has pleaded with the FCA to give them longer to prepare, stating that they would need at least 2 years to build and implement processes to get them to the regulator’s required standards.
The proposal also lacks clear recommendations for exactly how companies should meet Duty requirements and what practical steps, tools, and technologies they should be implementing to be compliant.
How can speech monitoring automation help to prepare your business for the Consumer Duty proposal?
Given the wide scope of the Consumer Duty, there are many actions firms need to consider taking as soon as possible. There are challenges when it comes to prioritising which of these actions you should be tackling first, however it should be noted that a great deal of the guidance focuses on the need to gain greater oversight of customer interactions, maintaining a high level of customer service and producing more positive customer outcomes.
By using speech monitoring software, your company can achieve increased control over your customer interactions, ensuring they receive a consistent and positive experience regardless of whether they’re speaking directly with you, or an outsourced third party (such as a call centre).
Aveni’s platform allows you to overlay situational factors, such as channel of communication or information provided, with things like the characteristics of a customer, their vulnerability status, and so on, to get a deeper understanding of customers and how to improve their experiences and outcomes. This additional information can help you to ensure that consumers achieve the best outcomes and have a better understanding throughout the journey.
The platform can also help to make sure that managers and staff are complying with stricter conduct rules by analysing all customer interactions and flagging any calls where the conduct of customer representatives might be called into question. In addition, you can train the platform to pick up incidents relating to firms’ specific products or processes using your unique data, meaning you to be sure that you’re in keeping with your own internal compliance measures, as well as the FCA’s.
Working with Aveni
If you’d like to find out more about how Aveni’s speech analytics platform can help you prepare for the new proposal, please get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.
