Putting customers first

It’s a simple business concept but many financial services firms are falling short of FSA standards for Treating Customers Fairly. The regulator is looking for substantial progress over the next 12 months and with a deadline of March 2007 for all firms to reach the implementation stage of the process, firms can no longer afford to ignore the policy and must start changing their business culture.

For those that thought the Financial Services Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) campaign was a fad, think again. The regulator is taking the issue very seriously and, fed up with the tardy engagement by some firms, it is setting a deadline for firms to enter the implementing phase of the programme (it has four phases in total – awareness, strategy and planning, implementing and embedding – with varying phases of take-up amongst the FSA’s regulated firms).