Consumer Duty: Reflections from the coalface

It’s now been a year since the FCA’s Consumer Duty came into force, setting a new standard in consumer protection across financial services. At Cirencester Friendly we found ourselves both challenged and emboldened by the new directive, recognising the opportunity it gives us to enhance our commitment to our Members.

As a mutual, the principles of Consumer Duty naturally align with our culture and values. Ensuring our Members receive fair, transparent, and beneficial outcomes has always been our goal and guiding founding principle. However, we recognised that there is always room for improvement and the road to compliance would not be a simple box ticking exercise – we were going to have to roll our sleeves up and get to work.

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We launched a dedicated project to review and refine our processes, Member facing communications, product documentation, product rules, and systems to ensure they met the new standards. This required significant time and resources and was challenging to manage alongside the delivery of our other strategic objectives and day-to-day operations.

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We took a hands-on approach, with numerous workshops and interaction across all departments to cut through jargon, ensure everyone understood what they needed to do and felt included. We also evaluated our products to ensure they provided genuine value to our Members. By carrying out these reviews, we reaffirmed our commitment to providing products that truly meet our Members' needs. Our Executive Committee and Board Consumer Duty Champion were across every step of the process, providing crucial guidance and oversight, ensuring our initiatives stayed on track and aligned with our objectives.

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Fostering a Member-centric culture has always been key to our operations and part of the organisation’s DNA. Consumer Duty inspired us to further embed these principles through additional training and HR policy changes. This ensured that every employee was focused on delivering good outcomes and exceptional service through their role.

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Reflecting on the past year, it’s clear that the Consumer Duty has reinforced and validated our existing practices rather than drastically altering them. It has sharpened our focus on delivering value and quality service, aligning perfectly with our mutual ethos of putting Members at the heart of everything we do. The foundations we've built this year position us well to continue meeting these high standards, keeping them front of mind ensuring our Members always receive the best possible protection and support.

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As we move forward, we remain committed to evolving our practices in line with the Consumer Duty and are conscious that this is not a ‘once and done’ exercise. By adhering to these high standards, we are confident in our ability to deliver good outcomes for our Members now, and in the future.

Ben Howe, Director of Strategy & Transformation, Cirencester Friendly