The arrival of Consumer Duty placed a renewed emphasis on delivering good outcomes – particularly for vulnerable customers. While positive progress has been made by many firms, there’s arguably still those that are yet to fully embrace the fresh focus of this new regulation and deliver the step change the regulator wants to see.

Looking specifically at the treatment of vulnerable customers, a multi-firm vulnerability review by the FCA found that many businesses are still unable to effectively monitor or take action on outcomes for vulnerable customers. In particular, it expresses concerns around outcomes monitoring, clear communications, and appropriate support for clients. 

Following the FCA’s latest Financial Lives survey, we saw why this is so important. It found that 49% of UK adults – around 26 million people – are living with one or more characteristics of vulnerability. Around one-in-ten are in poor health, with more than half of those experiencing difficulties when interacting with providers or managing their finances.

Across all areas of financial services, good outcomes matter – particularly in contact centres. Whether it’s in house or outsourced, agents sit on that frontline with the aim of ensuring customers are heard, issues or complaints are caught, and potential crises are averted. 

When contact centres are at their busiest, it can be really difficult for businesses to know what outcomes clients are receiving. Traditional and often manual approaches to call summaries and monitoring mean that it can be sporadic, inconsistent and light on data or intelligence to really take any action. Like we have seen in all sectors, though, technology and AI have brought significant developments to help answer these shortcomings.

Using AI and machine learning, it is now possible to automate the process of summarising every interaction with an agent across voice and digital channels. The need for manual note-taking is removed, allowing agents to focus entirely on the call – ensuring consistency, accuracy and efficiency. While this is great for reducing administrative burden, it can also help speed up resolution times and improve service quality by increasing access to key information – all in a consistent format. 

We also have the ability now to monitor and score 100% of client interactions. Even better still, the technology is in place to provide agents and call handlers with live guidance, flagging customer sentiment, any potential issues and even vulnerabilities in real time – improving communications and support provided. Given the fact that contact centres by their very nature deal with a good proportion of vulnerable customers, this is a clear step forward. 

Following a call, agents and call handlers have access to the scorecards and to instant feedback, rating the quality of the call and identifying any potential coaching points or areas of improvement. Through this process, interactions are aligned with agreed standards and with external regulations -such as Consumer Duty – while the data generated is consistent, comprehensive and fully actionable. 

Plus, with board reports and wider Consumer Duty reporting requirements still proving to be a weak spot for many firms, the results and findings can be consolidated into an in-depth report to support their submission. 

It is a fantastic example of how AI and technology more broadly are helping to deliver not just greater personalisation and a better service, but a clear edge on compliance and a real competitive advantage. It is something that we are actively rolling out at Target Group across our own contact centre solution, which is used by major institutions across financial services and serves as an extension of their team. 

The benefits of this approach for firms are that we are already a good way down the line in terms of our learnings and implementation of AI, as well as the regulatory demands that sit behind leveraging this technology. That is true for both Target and the wider Tech Mahindra group we are a part of. Whether it’s outsourcing key services or integrating AI, there’s no question that deep domain expertise and regulatory knowledge are hugely important. 

The regulatory landscape will continue to evolve – not just in terms of AI – but in regard to Consumer Duty. This is especially true as the FCA continues to make the new Duty the cornerstone of its regulatory approach. Businesses that can embrace innovations through outsourced services are in a far stronger position to not just remain compliant but demonstrate their compliance and deliver a first-class client experience.