On December 14/Yesterday, the FCA published the Multifirm Review of its investigation of Retail Banks, which it carried out ahead of the Consumer Duty coming into force last July.
Commenting on the findings, Suzanne Homewood, Managing Director of Decisioning at Moneyhub said:
“The FCA review shows that some retail banks not only struggle to provide evidence of good consumer outcomes but also to define what constitutes a good outcome. It shows that firms don’t have the broader insights to understand the context of a customer. Data deficiencies and inadequate information architectures are severely hampering a more holistic view of the customer, which is where we are helping retail and SME banks, of all sizes, to overcome”.
In a desk-based review of 70 product journeys across a range of 47 firms, the FCA highlighted a range of concerns. For example, mortgage lenders were not always aware that customers were using their products for debt consolidation and Business Current Account providers lacked insights on vulnerable customers. The FCA reiterated that:
“Firms need to ensure they have the appropriate MI and can evidence the outcomes their customers are receiving”.
Suzanne Homewood of Moneyhub continued:
“The review took a product and customer journey approach but the real insights are gained when a customer data lens is applied. Our technology is enabling firms to identify customer behaviours and to use these to create unique segmentation models. Our Detect, Intervene and Report solutions can be applied to the banks’ own data alone or expanded to include 3rd party data, with customer consent, through our award-winning Open Data platform”.
“The FCA Review represents a mock examination in one sector but it shows the scope to do better. Now that the Duty is in force and with closed book business coming into scope next year, firms will face the stiffer test of FCA supervisory visits”.
“The FCA expects firms to put consumers at the heart of what they do and that can only be done with customer centric data and analytical tools being in place. Moneyhub’s solutions are exactly that and are being used by CMA9 banks, challengers and more broadly product providers. It’s already giving them competitive and compliance advantages”.
About Moneyhub
Moneyhub is a data, intelligence, and payments company which develops ISO 27001 certified software for Open Banking, Open Finance, and Open Data applications. Its FCA-regulated Open Data platform enables companies to quickly and easily transform data into personalised digital experiences and initiate payments. Its APIs and fully customisable platform provide data aggregation, insights, notification nudges, and payment systems. As a result, clients have the consent-driven data and analytics they need to create super-personalised offers, products, and services. Hundreds of organisations, spanning finance to media and retail, rely on Moneyhub’s award-winning technology.
For more information, please visit www.moneyhub.com.