We conducted a consumer duty survey to fully understand the preparedness of CRO and Senior Risk and Compliance Executives for the Consumer Duty, what activities they are prioritising to meet tightening regulations and ensure good customer outcomes, and the key challenges they are facing.
67% of CROs say less than 20% of the board or executive committee’s time is currently spent talking about customer outcomes. 59% say not a lot (<50%) of what customers say is used in business decision-making. The survey also shows 3 out of 4 (67%) financial services executives do not focus enough on customer outcomes. These results starkly highlight the need for execs and board members to get involved. They need to start prioritising customer outcomes and feedback to avoid severe regulatory backlash.
Consumer Duty brings it all back to the customer. Your efforts shouldn’t stop at the end of a sale. Firms have an obligation to put consumer outcomes over and above their profitability. It’s important to deliver on your promises and continually consider consumer needs in your entire process. Their outcomes will be the key metric on which all financial services businesses will be measured and a fundamental regulatory requirement. Unfortunately, a surprising 67% do not focus enough on these outcomes.
The FCA states clearly that it requires firms to ensure consumers receive communications they can understand, that products and services meet their needs and offer fair value, and that they receive any support they need. If firms don’t focus on outcomes, how can they be sure their communications, products, and services meet the needs of the customers? Customer outcomes should be a key driving force for conversations and decision-making at the board level, with or without the Duty requirements. It’s an opportunity to put customers at the heart of your business and drive business improvement accordingly.
The survey also points out that less than 50% of what customers say is used in business decision-making. There should be a greater focus on demonstrating that all complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction have been appropriately captured and recorded. Each complaint should be followed up, resolved, reported and featured in product and service development. The FCA will be looking for evidence of this. It further illustrates the importance of capturing and assessing all consumer interactions. A lot of customers may express dissatisfaction without making an official complaint. These important interactions require a means of identification and monitoring for ongoing process, service and product improvement.
Insights from the survey confirm that firms still have some way to go. With deadlines hot on their heels, there’s no time to waste.
Join Aveni CEO, Joseph Twigg and COO, Jamie Hunter as they host a webinar unpacking the results of the survey. They’ll uncover the key insights from your peers on Consumer Duty. These includes CRO challenges and critical activities in meeting FCA’s Consumer Duty regulation. Register now.
The research involved 83 senior risk and Compliance executives from FCA-regulated businesses between October and November 2022. For full results see here.
