Context
Sarah Pritchard is the Executive Director of Supervision, Policy and Competition – Markets and Executive Director, International, at the FCA. Pritchard gave a speech at The Investment and Saving Alliance (TISA)’s Annual Conference in London.
Key points to note and next actions
- The FCA has welcomed the Government’s focus on financial inclusion and will continue to play its part through the implementation of its new five-year strategy.
- It notes that accelerated growth can be achieved through improvements in financial inclusion and resilience, and that technological innovation, managed well, can also play a key role.
- The Government’s proposals to develop a National Financial Inclusion Strategy is an area where it can lead a co-ordinated, coherent and collaborative approach, which helps with the FCA’s work in the Consumer Duty and its Innovation Hub and makes a difference when used in partnership with others.
- The FCA’s focus on supporting customers in financial difficulty will continue, as the FCA wants to see a well-functioning accessible market. Protecting consumers from harm doesn’t just help the individual; it stabilises the wider economy too.
- The FCA sees an opportunity to improve both short and long-term financial resilience, embrace innovation and remove barriers to inclusive growth. The FCA’s challenge to firms, though is to ask if the industry’s products are meeting the needs of customers today, while preparing them for tomorrow, and what more could firms do to empower customers to build strong financial foundations.