The FCA have finally published the long anticipated Consumer Duty rules for regulated businesses. The consultations and noises coming from the FCA themselves prior to publication mean the published rules feature few surprises, though many advice firms will welcome the additional time granted to put arrangements in place. Even so, an October ’22 deadline for having plans in place leaves firms little time to stand still.
Firms will vary in their interpretation of the rules and what they need to do in practical terms. What is clear, however, is that the consumer is now more than ever at the heart of things and the FCA intend to enforce this mindset. The onus now moves to providers and firms to evidence how they’re ensuring products and services match the needs of the consumer, are well understood and provide value.
At DSL we recognise not all advisers or firms have the manpower, time or resources to implement all the things they’d like. In response, DSL have launched ClientCall, an outsourced solution to help advisers, advice firms and networks bolster their Consumer Duty compliance, whilst simultaneously enhancing customer service and the bottom line. Managing Director of DSL, Daniel Olley explains: “We’ve been working with advice firms of all sizes for a number of years, many of them run a tight ship and would like to do more, but you can only do so much with finite resources. Our experience of speaking to advice clients, allied to state of the art CRM and calling technology, means we’re perfectly placed to step in and add the muscle many firms require.”
ClientCall is a plug and play solution, allowing firms to speak to more of their clients more often, creating a full audit trail of communications activity. This makes it a cost and time effective addition to the Consumer Duty plan for any firm. DSL Director Sarah Evans-Webster commented: “Technology can be a great way to communicate with clients, and it’s even better when combined with the human touch, with real conversations. Clients are more willing to engage with real conversation and are impressed by the extra customer service. We view ClientCall as a win-win-win; the regulator sees greater emphasis on clients’ needs, the client sees their adviser is more in tune with their needs and the advice firm reaps the rewards in additional income”.
Our ClientCall Consumer Duty service is available to all UK financial advisers and firms and operates on a fixed fee per client, per annum. For more details you can view our dedicated Consumer Duty page here.
