?? 5 Questions With...??

Each month I ask 5 questions to a member of?Studio Retail Limited 's Financial Services, Compliance & Risk team..

For our March edition, we have spoken with our lovely Senior Vulnerable Consumer Lead, Sonya Schofield

Question One - How has the role of a Vulnerable Consumer lead changed over the years?

Significantly! And I don’t see that ever changing.?Vulnerable situations are ever evolving but so is our understanding as an industry.?Vulnerability has been high on the agenda of both regulators and firms for a number of years and people just want to do the right thing.?Now more than ever, firms within the industry & other sectors regularly come together to share best practice through collaboration and problem solving to improve understanding and drive those good outcomes we all want to achieve.?

Question Two - What are your 2023 Vulnerable Consumer predictions?

More and more people are struggling with debt following almost 12 months of rising living costs with many turning to credit to make ends meet. Annual growth rate of credit card borrowing is at its highest since October 2005, as well as a significant rise in demand for debt advice (StepChange reporting debt advice completions in January 2023 being at least 22% higher than any single month in 2022),?the trends for 2023 are shaping up to be a tough year for many.?

The cost of living crisis is not only exasperating vulnerable situations already present, but we’re seeing more & more people who have never experienced these situations before.?Poor mental health is on the increase as well as vulnerable situations that were not on the radar a few years ago such as economic abuse and victims of illegal money lending.?

Question Three - How can systems or technology support Vulnerable Consumer departments?

Significantly, technology can aid the identification and treatment of customers in vulnerable circumstances.?The past few years have seen some real innovative ways to offer support that really empower customers as well as help businesses mitigate risk of harm.

Question Four - What is your favourite part about supporting consumers in vulnerable circumstances?

The opportunity to make a difference, and it’s not something that we should ever underestimate. We can make a real difference to people’s everyday lives, in some cases, life changing.

Question Five - Why should someone join Studio?

It’s such an exciting time to join Studio, we are going through an enormous amount of change with a very exciting future ahead. Oh, we really do have the best people too!

If interested in joining Sonya's team or the wider contact centre operations team at Studio please get in touch! You can contact Kirby on [email protected] or visit our careers website for further details.