EC Boils Consumer Law Ocean On Eve of #Brexit Referendum

Perfectly timed to coincide with a peak in frustration with EU red tape, the European Commission has just published its plan to ruin everyone's summer consultation on the 'fitness' of six consumer directives, and is also busy reviewing a seventh (the Consumer Rights Directive):

• Unfair Contract Terms Directive 93/13/EEC;
• Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive 1999/44/EC;
• Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC;
• Price Indication Directive 98/6/EC;
• Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive 2006/114/EC;
• Injunctions Directive 2009/22/EC.

Try to avoid falling asleep in the sun!

Will this result in less red tape? I could hazard a guess, but we won't really know until it's too late. The Commission reports its findings in mid-2017.

FCA Spotlight On How Consumers Deal With Money

Source: Audio Visual Excellence

Consumer Spotlight is the FCA’s view on how UK consumers deal with money and financial services, including the capabilities and potential vulnerabilities. It describes ten consumer segments, and reveals the data the model is built on.

The tool is intended to help the FCA identify the risks consumers face, and the protection required.

Charts show how each segment responded to questions in a survey of over 4000 consumers. Filters reveal characteristics, attitudes and behaviours associated with different group of consumers (e.g. inertia, risk appetite and impulsiveness). This can help firms design products and communications that "work well for different, specific consumers."

The FCA's model is said to differ from firm's models because it incorporates "some data not commonly collected in commercial models, such as vulnerability characteristics and financial capability." However, I wonder if another difference is that some firms treat evidence of vulnerability and financial capability as a reason to target a segment, rather than avoid it...

While firms would be wise to at least consider the data when designing products and communications, the FCA warns that:

"The data is based on consumer recall and self-reported behaviour and attitudes; it is not validated against other sources. Consumers may not know the answers to questions. Other industry data may be gathered in different ways or for different purposes, making direct comparisons difficult... Although it may inform a firm's thinking and planning, the model is not designed for commercial development. We do not intend to enable firms to profile their own customer base using the model for their own commercial benefit."