MorganAsh, a vulnerability specialist and support services provider, has launched a new gap analysis service to help firms assess how their current approach to customer vulnerability management aligns with new benchmark guidance.

Firms looking to offer the FCA’s new targeted support must not neglect the customer vulnerability requirements of Consumer Duty, MorganAsh warns as the regulator confirms the proposals will go ahead and take effect from April 2026.

Financial services firms must urgently review their IT systems and processes for managing customer vulnerability, experts warn as new independent guidance sets higher standards and is adopted by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

In a customer vulnerability first, MorganAsh and PayPlan won two joint awards from the Collaboration Network, for their collaborative work managing vulnerable customers. 

New guidance from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) and Personal Finance Society (PFS) released this week, “significantly moves the dial” on vulnerable customer management in the insurance and personal finance sectors, says leading customer vulnerability firm MorganAsh.

MorganAsh, the leading support services provider to the financial services and utilities sector, has added a major upgrade to the algorithms behind the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) to better record, measure and support clients with multiple vulnerabilities.

Consumer champion and industry veteran Johnny Timpson OBE has urged the utilities sector to radically improve how it identifies and supports vulnerable customers – calling on firms to go beyond regulatory requirements to provide better and more targeted support, and unlock key commercial benefits.

PayPlan, a leading UK provider of debt advice and support, has announced successful results from its partnership with support services provider MorganAsh – with the adoption of the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) delivering improvements in identifying and supporting vulnerable customers – and generating deeper management information.

New vulnerable customer data from the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) has revealed that caring responsibilities are one of the most common life events experienced by consumers.

The release of the FCA’s latest Financial Lives survey, which found that 49% of UK adults have one or more characteristic of vulnerability, demonstrates the pressing need to understand customer vulnerability, argues specialists MorganAsh.

Match the Cash Limited t/a Guarantor My Loan & Share My Loan – a peer-to-peer lender of loans to consumers, has launched a new product after adopting the MorganAsh customer vulnerability software, MARS (MorganAsh Resilience System).

In the latest update to MARS, MorganAsh has added new functionality to record how and when suggested support (next steps) are recommended to clients, as well as their clients’ reactions and whether they take-up the recommendations.

MorganAsh, a support services provider to the financial services and utilities sectors, has launched a series of workshops on customer vulnerability, to help firms get to grips with the topic and meet the requirements of Consumer Duty.

Fears of assessment bias when identifying customer vulnerability are not only unfounded, but risk delaying progress on both meeting Consumer Duty’s requirements and supporting customers, MorganAsh has warned firms.

Firms hoping the Government’s call to boost growth through regulatory reform will mean cuts to Consumer Duty will be ‘disappointed’, warns MorganAsh.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s plans for a review of how firms are managing customer vulnerability come as “no surprise”, says MorganAsh managing director Andrew Gething.

Firms that are falsely using GDPR as a ‘scapegoat’ for non-compliance with Consumer Duty are risking severe action from the regulator, MorganAsh warns.

Clocktower Support, a specialist financial services firm supporting foreign nationals from Asia, has adopted the MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS) to improve support and financial inclusion among its vulnerable customers.

Identifying and understanding the vulnerabilities of customers became a regulatory requirement in February 2021 for firms. Consumer Duty has renewed this focus and expanded the need to understand and monitor consumer vulnerabilities. Even so, many firms are still trying to get to grips with just how they identify their vulnerable customers.

MorganAsh, the support services provider to the financial services and utilities sectors, has appointed customer experience and customer vulnerability specialist James Edmonds as a Consumer Duty consultant.