Nisha Arora, Director of Consumer and Retail Policy at the FCA gave a speech today at the online Finance and Leasing Association Conference.
The speech reminded the audience about the 4 outcomes the FCA wants to see for the abundance of consumers using consumer credit (85% of adults):
- The FCA wants consumers to be able to find products that meet their needs and make informed decisions in their best interests.
- They don’t want consumers to become over-indebted by being given credit they cannot afford.
- Affordable credit should be available so that people can manage their day-to-day spend, meet unexpected costs and make essential purchases they could not otherwise afford but without becoming dependent on credit in the long-term, and entering into a spiral of debt.
- Consumers should be able to take control of their debt at an early stage when they fall into financial difficulty – with firms identifying and providing support at an early stage, and consumers engaging with debt advice if necessary before their financial problems become too severe.
The speech then covered affordability, good forbearance and collections and the FCA’s covid-19 response for mortgages before looking to the future goals of the FCA.
In the short to medium term, the FCA wants to:
- support and engage with firms to ensure guidance is implemented to help deliver the right customer outcomes
- keep their rules and approach under continuous review in light of the pandemic
- work closer with the debt advice sector