News - Consumer chief takes aim at finance firms
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Peter Vicary-Smith is the new head of Which, formerly known as the Consumers’ Association. He replaces Dame Sheila McKechnie, who died in January. For nearly fifty years, Which has been one of the UK’s most powerful consumer voices. As National Consumer Week draws to a close and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) prepares to start regulating mortgages from 31 October, Mr Vicary-Smith tells BBC News there are plenty of battles for Which to fight.
Which has long said financial firms need to clean up their act - how well do you think they are doing?
There is still something rotten at the heart of UK financial services. All too often banks and insurers are looking to just make a quick profit from their customers. There is little thought given to the lifetime value of a customer.
Treat a customer right and price yourself competitively and you will keep their business for many years and make more money in the long run. Many retailers get this lesson but not financial firms. Only if this short-term mindset changes will confidence return to UK savings and pensions.
What can banks and insurers do to raise their game?
We would like to see much more in the credit marketplace. It is often difficult for consumers to tell how much a loan or credit card will cost them. In addition, lenders need to drop their policy of charging people penalties for repaying a loan early. The way financial services are sold needs to change. We need to get away from commission-based selling. Financial advisers products, purely so that they can earn fat commissions, has done a great deal of damage to consumers.
Dame Sheila McKechnie famously described the FSA as being asleep on the job - do you think the watchdog is still snoozing?
The FSA has a remit.
It is meant to protect consumers at the same time as promoting UK financial services. Experience has shown that this circle cannot be squared. If, for example, the FSA becomes aware that a UK bank or insurer is in difficulties does it reveal this in order to protect the interest of consumers, in the knowledge that it may sound the death knell of the institution? It boils down to one question, where does the prime duty of the FSA lie, with consumers or the industry?
Do you think the FSA is up to regulating UK mortgages?
Any reform of the UK financial services system has (only) happened after a scandal has broken. Regulation has been reactive rather than proactive. Admittedly, the FSA has suffered from the fact that it has only had sway over part of the financial services industry. Taking over the regulation of mortgages is an enormous task as peoples’ homes are their biggest asset and the scandal over endowment mortgages has shown the damage that can be done by mis-selling.
What else do you think is troubling UK consumers?
We recently launched our bite back programme - an online consultation with our members. The idea of bite back is to see what is on the minds of our members.
So far bite back has shown that members feel that many UK businesses and public bodies have little respect for them. From surly shop assistants, food labelling to internet spam, people feel the drip, drip, drip of daily irritations. The concerns may not be major on their own but combined they highlight a culture of lack of respect for the consumer. We plan to base our future campaigns on the feedback we receive through bite back.
Do you have sufficient clout to promote the interests of consumers?
My clout comes from 950,000 Which members. We can make a real difference and have done so on many occasions in the past. We are one of very few groups that has new powers under the Enterprise Act to request an Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigation, a process known as a super-complaint. The right to make a super-complaint gives our members a direct route to the government and ensures that a major issue will be .
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