FCA publishes guidance on treatment of vulnerable customers

'Embedded culture'

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a 41-page piece of guidance for businesses on how to better treat vulnerable customers.

The document was split into a number of sections: understanding the needs of vulnerable customers, skills and capability of staff, product and service design, customer services, communications, and monitoring and evaluation. How to approach the 'vulnerable' customer? Fundamentally, the FCA said it wanted to see firms doing the right thing for vulnerable consumers and have that embedded in their culture. The main aim, it said, was for firms to be more focused on ensuring outcomes for vulnerable customers were at least as good as those of other clients. It also wanted to see great...