The financial services industry will need to address the areas where its processes are falling short for customers/clients, if it is to conform to the incoming Consumer Duty rules, says Origo CEO Anthony Rafferty.
Rafferty says: “The Consumer Duty rules put consumers at the heart of everything the industry does. Part of this, is ensuring they receive the right level of support and communication they need to obtain the best outcomes.
“The new regulations are a catalyst for the industry to look at its front and back office processes and see where failing to deliver the right level of service and support, has the potential to affect the outcomes customers receive, or worst case, cause them foreseeable harm.
“Processes ’helping’ consumers to move their money is an example of a highlighted pain point, particularly when the money is leaving the company.
“From a business perspective it is maybe understandable that companies have been more focussed on onboarding new customers, rather than ceding business, but the question is how does this now stand up under Consumer Duty?”
The incoming rules suggest companies will need to consider how delays caused by their systems and processes could be detrimental to the consumer. What if the delay keeps them from transacting for an unreasonable amount of time with financial implications?
When reviewed by the Regulator, could unnecessarily cumbersome processing be seen as creating barriers to consumers achieving their financial objectives, potentially causing foreseeable harm?
Rafferty adds: “As an industry we should all want to provide the best service and support to our customers that we can. This means asking where our processes might be creating problems and how they may be improved.
“An area of particular interest to Origo is the Letter of Authority. This is a process which anyone who has been through it or has to administer it, will tell you is currently broken. Switching from a manual process to an automated/digital system can significantly improve the service and support to the end consumer – as well as being a faster, less resource heavy internal process for providers administrators and financial advisers.”
“Embedding Consumer Duty is a process that requires companies to look at every aspect of their business, to ensure every process conforms to the new rules. We envisage this will be as much about customer service and support levels as it will other aspects of a business.”
