Smart Money People has launched a new cross-industry working group to help improve communication to vulnerable customers.
The group’s objective is to refine the questions financial services companies ask vulnerable people to better understand their needs, and develop recommendations for the industry on best practices for identifying and communicating with them effectively.
The working group is made up of members from building societies, credit unions and debt management companies, as well as Fair4All Finance, the not-for-profit financial inclusion organisation.
Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money People said: “The FCA’s Consumer Duty is specifically designed to raise standards of care for financial services customers, with a particular focus on those in a vulnerable position. However, our data shows these customers are not seeing the impact of these guidelines 12 months later.
“We have established the working group to help create best practice across the industry, and Smart Money People is well positioned to bring a wealth of insight to these sessions to help providers better serve the customers who most need our support.”
In a recent study of 2,000 consumers by Smart Money People, four in five (81%) customers said they had seen no positive improvement in the way their financial services companies treated them in the past 12 months.
Diane Burridge, interim director of development, Fair4All Finance, added: “The importance of clear, easy-to-understand communication cannot be underestimated. Our research has shown more than 20 million UK adults are living in financially vulnerable circumstances, and many within that number have complex requirements.
“We echo Smart Money People’s commitment to raising awareness of this issue and welcome the chance to work collaboratively to support a consistent standard of service for these customers.”
The Smart Money People survey was conducted by Opinium Research.