How to improve financial services for vulnerable customers - report

Earlier this week the first ever Financial Services Vulnerability Taskforce published a report outlining best practice recommendations for the industry as it aims to improve the experience and outcomes of customers who may be facing challenging personal circumstances.

Last year, building societies, banks, charities, trade bodies and consumer groups joined forces to build on the work already undertaken by many institutions in this sphere. Chaired by Joanna Elson OBE, Chief Executive of the Money Advice Trust, and coordinated by the BBA with participation from the Building Societies Association the taskforce is designed to ensure the fair treatment of customers facing challenging personal circumstances. 

With flexibility as one of the fundamental tenets of the Vulnerability Taskforce, the report highlights that no two customers are the same, and as such they should be treated as individuals. Vulnerability can change over time. The taskforce has recommended that service providers build this into their staff training, so that support is provided, even if customers do not share information about their situation. Similarly, customers should be able to access practical, jargon-free information and help via the range of communication channels made available by each firm, including signposting to specialist help in the charity sector where appropriate. Where customers require regular assistance, firms should consider offering dedicated points of contact to support them.

Other recommendations, outlined in the report, include:

• Enabling people to report a death only once within the same organisation, a ‘one-stop-shop notice’, for example when a customer may have several or multiple relationships with a UK financial services brand.

• Ensuring that a range of customer evaluation techniques, such as mystery shopping, are embedded into the firm’s evaluation process.

• Allowing the necessary flexibility and authority to both frontline and specialist teams to take action that may sit outside usual practices and procedures, if right for the customer.

Joanna Elson OBE said: “The real test of the Taskforce’s work, of course, will be whether customers who are vulnerable begin to experience improvements in the everyday service they receive – whether they are accessing a current account, managing a loan or making any other interaction with financial service providers of all kinds.  I have every confidence that firms will rise to this challenge, and that real results on the ground will follow.”

Supporting the cause, BSA Chief Executive Robin Fieth said: “Aiming to get it right for all customers all of the time is clearly how it should be. For those facing challenging personal circumstances, how they are treated in-branch or on the phone also makes a massive difference. Building society staff work hard to go the extra mile for their customers by being flexible and sensitive. What this taskforce report does is bring together best-practice right across financial services. It delivers a valuable learning resource, lifting the bar on standards for the treatment of vulnerable customers.” 

Find the full report here.