FCA chief Wheatley: Treat 'vulnerable' customers like family

Carmen Reichman
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Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Martin Wheatley has called on firms to do more to support vulnerable customers, saying their mistakes made difficult situations worse "too many times".

Wheatley (pictured) said he did not expect firms to perform "a wholesale redrawing" of their processes and systems or for their customer-facing staff "to become social workers". But he expects firms to "allow staff to treat customers as they would like a member of their own family to be treated", he said. The regulator published a paper on treating vulnerable consumers in February, designed to encourage debate among academics, practitioners and policymakers. The paper found "problems at every stage" in the way firms deal with vulnerable consumers, including poor communication and p...

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