Consumer Duty: Elevating Standards in Banking
The introduction of the Consumer Duty has been one of the most significant regulatory shifts in UK financial services in recent years. Designed to enhance consumer protection and ensure better outcomes for retail customers, this regulation sets a new benchmark for financial institutions. It requires banks and financial service providers to put customer interests at the heart of their operations, reinforcing the sector’s commitment to fairness, transparency, and responsibility.
Understanding and implementing the Consumer Duty is critical for banking professionals at all levels. From frontline staff to compliance officers, everyone has a role to play in upholding the principles of the Duty and ensuring customers receive products and services that are fit for purpose, offer fair value, and support their financial well-being. Going forward, it is likely to be the central lens through which the regulator will assess the need for new or revised rules.
The Importance of Consumer Duty in Today’s Banking Sector
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has introduced the Consumer Duty to drive a cultural shift within the sector, ensuring that customer-centric practices are embedded into every aspect of financial services. Firms are expected to take proactive measures to prevent foreseeable harm, provide products and services that meet customer needs, and offer transparent communications that empower informed decision-making.
The Duty sets higher expectations across product design, pricing, service quality, and post-sale support. Institutions that fail to meet these expectations risk regulatory scrutiny, financial penalties, and reputational damage. For banking professionals, this means a renewed focus—beyond compliance—on actively fostering trust and ensuring positive customer experiences.
Introducing the Consumer Duty Essentials for Banking Professionals
To support banking professionals in understanding and applying the Consumer Duty, the Chartered Banker Institute has developed a brand-new, engaging eLearning course: Consumer Duty Essentials for Banking Professionals. This course provides a practical and comprehensive overview of the Duty, equipping learners with the knowledge and skills needed to meet regulatory expectations while enhancing customer trust and satisfaction.
Know the fundamentals already?
Whenever new regulations come into force, there is an accompanying flurry of training to ensure everyone understands the fundamental principles. This was certainly evident with the Consumer Duty, which was in development for almost two years.
However, we’ve seen from recent FCA feedback and communications that the Consumer Duty looks set to significantly inform the regulator’s review of existing rules as it considers how to deliver its new secondary objective of facilitating the international competitiveness and growth of the UK economy (including the financial services sector).
If the Consumer Duty is to underpin greater flexibility and innovation in the sector, and we might see this lead to the removal of some more prescriptive rules, then, given its complexity and significance, we believe it is beneficial for banking professionals to act now to deepen their understanding of the Duty. Gaining a clear understanding of how the Consumer Duty applies to different areas of banking and exploring the rules in the context of regulatory and consumer expectations will not only support compliance but help to recognise and emphasise the benefits of the Duty for customers, financial institutions, and individual professionals.
This is an opportunity to further build trust in banking. To support professionals in navigating these changes, the Institute has developed the Consumer Duty Essentials for Banking Professionals eLearning course. This programme is designed to help learners to reflect on their roles and consider how they can help deliver good customer outcomes, and foster a culture of ethical and responsible banking.
Although there is no formal assessment, successful completion of the module is recognised with a digital certificate and badge. External validation can make a significant difference in how learning is perceived. Our certification demonstrates a professional’s commitment to upholding the highest standards of consumer protection and ethical banking.
Our course is accessible to all banking professionals, whether you work in retail banking, risk management, compliance, or customer service. The insights provided will empower you to support the Consumer Duty’s objectives, make better decisions, and contribute to a more customer-focused banking environment.
Our role as a professional body is to support all our banking professionals to understand not just the what and why of the Consumer Duty, but also the how - helping them apply the principles effectively in their everyday roles. In this way we meet our commitment to encourage the highest standards of professionalism and conduct in banking in the public interest.
Shaping the Future
Consumer Duty is shaping the future of banking, ensuring that customer needs and well-being remain a priority. We encourage all banking professionals to invest time in deepening their knowledge of the Duty, to be a critical part of the movement towards better banking for all. Joining us at the Institute to do so, you will gain essential insights, practical skills, and external certification to validate your expertise.
For more information about our Consumer Duty programme and how to sign up, please follow this link.