Nearly a quarter of consumers believe their pension and investment providers don’t provide enough assistance or after-sale care, which may indicate a violation of the FCA Consumer Duty obligations, according to Open Banking and Moneyhub.
There’s a guidance gap between different income brackets with only 15 per cent of individuals making £100,000 or more report having difficulty communicating with their provider, compared to 42 per cent of persons in general.
Furthermore, compared to just 13 per cent of those making under £100,000, 40 per cent of higher earners strongly think that their provider provides personalised care.
One factor for this discrepancy is technological limits. Among consumers, one-fifth or 21 per cent think that having the option to make flexible top-ups depending on their monthly excess would motivate them to increase their pension or investment contributions.
Additionally, 16 per cent say it would be helpful to have quick access to estimates of the future value of their present investments.
Open Finance allows providers to add these kinds of functionality to their products. Customers may manage a variety of financial products, such as mortgages, loans, ISAs, bank accounts, credit cards, savings accounts, pensions, and property assessments, all in one location thanks to Moneyhub’s technology.
Moneyhub Personal Finance Technology managing director Mark Horwood-James says: “With the current availability of customer-focussed solutions through Open Finance and Open Banking technologies, there’s no reason for consumers to be still struggling with feelings of uncertainty or neglect. Through the advance of technology, good financial guidance does not have to be exclusive to those who are wealthy enough to pay for the privilege.
“The opportunity is clear for financial service providers: empower customers to make better financial decisions and, in the process, improve their financial wellbeing and ability to save or invest. The race is on to deliver the best solutions and experiences that benefit all customers.”
Margaret Snowdon OBE says: “The adoption of new technologies, especially in the form of Open Finance and Open Banking solutions, performs two important actions at once for pensions and investment providers.
“On the one hand it is the only way to face up and respond to the new FCA Consumer Duty demands – the key elements of the relationship between the provider and consumer can all be addressed through the simple adoption of already available technologies. On the other hand, the technologies improve the customer’s chances of making the correct financial decisions at the right time, thus bettering outcomes for themselves and their provider.”
