"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"
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 FCA 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 ‘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 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.
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.”
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.”
