The new partnership will mean that financial services firms are able to gain a better understanding of the characteristics of individual customers, so that they can identify their vulnerabilities more accurately. This will become increasingly important with the Financial Conduct Authority set to tighten regulatory requirements on firms to identify and understand vulnerable customers.
In April, MorganAsh launched its MorganAsh Resilience System (MARS), which provides an objective and easy-to-understand ‘resilience rating’ similar to a credit rating. It has been designed to enable firms to evaluate the vulnerability of individual customers more easily and consistently. The system and its rating methodology allows financial services firms to create more robust solutions based on a personalised understanding of the circumstances of individual customers.
Before the launch of MARS, there was no comparable methodology within financial services to assess individual vulnerability in a reliable and consistent manner.
The new partnership will allow MARS to work with Infinian’s data hub, which allows companies to interpret consumer finance data to improve decision-making. Infinian already works with a range of firms, including debt collection agencies, the gaming vulnerability sector, and risk and fraud agencies.
MorganAsh also recently enhanced its MARS tool by linking it with the Vulnerability Registration Service (VRS), which allows consumers to register themselves as vulnerable. The VRS draws on information from a range of organisations, including financial services suppliers, local authorities, utilities and charities.
The founder and managing director of MorganAsh, Andrew Gething, said: “It is important that organisations obtain accurate information on consumer characteristics so they can identify vulnerabilities correctly. We combine data directly from consumers, Infinian and the VRS to build a picture of the consumer’s characteristics, all expressed within our objective resilience rating. This not only enables organisations to understand their customers and take appropriate actions, but also provides a consistent record of events that is required for Consumer Duty regulations and can be audited.”
The commercial director of Infinian, Ben Allott, said: “Infinian is a leading provider of lending insights and data analytics on the consumer finance sector. We offer unparalleled depth and coverage on the individuals associated with consumer lending, helping clients identify vulnerable consumers and stay ahead of the curve. We are delighted to begin working with MorganAsh, who share our goal of responsibly improving consumer decisioning of individuals.
“For MorganAsh, we will use vulnerability and affordability analytics to identify high-risk individuals and set up early warning alerts to mitigate risk and comply with regulation, using the MorganAsh MARS tool.”
Media contacts
Bernard Clarke, bClear Communications, 07780 666581, bernard.clarke@bclear.co.uk
Kay Stevenson, Quint Group & Infinian, kstevenson@quint.co.uk
Notes for editors
The FCA issued its Occasional Paper (No 8) on consumer vulnerability in February 2015. After further papers and consultations, its latest paper, Guidance for Firms on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers (FG21/1), was introduced in February 2021. The FCA has said it aims to review progress in April 2023. Vulnerability is also a major component of the FCA’s drive on Consumer Duty. It is expected to publish its final changes in regulations in the summer of 2022 and for them to come into force in April 2023.
About MorganAsh
MorganAsh provides highly differentiated support services for regulated firms within the financial services sector, combining bespoke technology solutions with human empathy. Its services include absence intervention, medical underwriting, tele-interviewing and online data-gathering, and vulnerability management. MorganAsh works with the majority of UK and Ireland life insurance companies.
MorganAsh has built the MARS tool to enable financial services firms to better understand their customers and to be able to communicate this in a consistent, fair manner, complying with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It also enables them to monitor their performance over time. MorganAsh provides guidance and assistance in implementing vulnerability projects across organisations, as well as configuring the MARS system where necessary.
For more information about MorganAsh, visit morganash.com
About Infinian
Infinian is revolutionising the way companies interpret consumer finance data. Infinian’s data hub provides highly insightful credit data to the financial services sector, debt collection agencies, the gaming vulnerability sector, as well as risk and fraud agencies.
By partnering with Infinian, companies mitigate risk and optimise revenues from critical insights into consumer finance data in relation to credit applications, collections and tracing, fraud and financial crime, vulnerability and affordability assessments, and macroeconomic trends.
Infinian is part of Quint Group, a leading international, highly innovative fintech group operating in the consumer finance market. With headquarters in Alderley Edge, UK, Quint Group operates in four territories around the world and employs over 100 staff.
Quint Group was co-founded in 2009 by Greg Cox in response to a rapidly changing consumer credit market. Greg saw a gap in the market for developing an agile, technology-driven business that was able to execute on opportunities that would arise as the consumer finance market moved to online operating platforms. Over the last 10 years, the Group has developed into one of the leading fintech companies in the country.
The Group now owns and operates four synergistic fintech businesses in the consumer credit space and has expanded operations internationally to Poland, USA and Australia, with technology hubs in the UK, China and South Africa. Quint Group was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2017.
For more information about Infinian, visit infinian.com
For more information about Quint, visit quint.co.uk