改革消费信贷法规

Authors Luke KoskyFintech Policy LeadStartup Coalition Charlie MercerDeputy Policy Director Dom HallasExecutive Director AboutStartup Coalition StartupCoalition,formerlytheCoalitionforaDigitalEconomy(Coadec),isanindependentadvocacygroup that serves as the policy voice for Britain’s technology-led startups and scale ups. StartupCoalitionwasfoundedin2010byMikeButcher,Editor-at-LargeoftechnologynewspublisherTechCrunch,andJeffLynn,ChairmanandCo-FounderofonlineinvestmentplatformSeedrs.StartupCoalitionworksacrossabroadrangeofpolicyareasthatmatterthemosttostartupsandscaleups:Accessto Talent,Access to Finance&Regulation.We represent the startup community on the ExecutiveSummary Aspartofthe2022EdinburghReforms,theUKGovernmentsetoutplans“fortheUKtobetheworld’smostinnovative and competitive global financial centre”.These plans included the launch of aconsultationontheConsumerCreditAct(CCA),thefoundationallegislationwhichunderpinslendingintheUKandwasoriginallyintroduced50yearsago,in1974.WhilsttheGovernmentcompletedthis Thisreportadvocatesforiterative,butambitiousreformoftheCCA,alongsideanoverhauloftheothercomponentpartsoftheconsumercreditregulatoryregime,specificallythegovernanceof Tosupportourcallforambitiousaction,wehavereleasedresearchalongsidethisreportwhichcapturestheviewsof1,000consumers.Thisincludesevidenceoftheirlendingbehaviours,knowledgeoftheproducts and services they use, and views on how the CRAs and FOS are functioning. Our headline findings are that: 1.Youngerconsumersweremorelikelythanolderconsumerstohaveusedacreditproductinthelast twelve months.2.Credit cards are the most popular credit product, with BNPL the second most popular.3.Younger consumers use BNPL almost as much as they use credit cards.4.Youngerconsumersreportdecreasinglevelsofdebt,whilstmiddle-agedconsumersaremorelikely to report rising levels of debt.5.Most consumers pay off their credit card in full each month,with the oldestandyoungestconsumers most likely to do so. Ourfindings present a view of rising debt among many consumers,and a fundamental lack ofunderstandingfrommanyastohowtheirproductswork,andhowtheregulatorsfunctiontoday.They Usingthisfoundationaldata,wecontendthattheconsumercreditregulatoryregimehasfailedtoadapttoinnovation across multiple vectors.Firstly,it has failed to adapt toinnovativewaysofservicingcustomersinawaythatmaximisespositiveconsumeroutcomes.Secondly,ithasfailedtoadaptto integrateBuyNow,PayLaterproducts.Thirdly,theconsumercreditinformationsector,andtheCRAsthatdominate the sector,has failed to keep pace with innovation that maximises good consumeroutcomes,andisalsodominatedbyslowmovingincumbents.Finally,theFOSisunfitforpurposeandit Consumersdeserve more than this failing regime,whichiswhywe’recallingforanambitiousbut Step1:Gradually,andsystematically,phaseouttheCCA,startingwithprescribedform,contentand Step2:CreateaCompetitiveCRASector,startingwiththeswiftimplementationofallCIMSremedies.Policymakersalso need to support alternative data sources and challenger CRAs through the Step3:ReformtheFOS,startingwiththeintroductionofmulti-trackcasecategorisationtoenableincreased efficiency and funding reform, alongside the rapid introduction of a customer facing portal. Importantly,thisisaplanthatmuststartbeforethenextelection.Reformingafoundationalpartoffinancialservicesregulationwillbeaformidablechallenge,andrequirespoliticalleadership, Introduction TheUKishometoaworld-leadingfinancialservicessector.Itishometotheworld’sbiggestbanksandfinancialinstitutions,aswellasatrailblazingFintechecosystemwhichcontributesaround£11bnandover76,000jobstotheUKeconomy.Thisnationalassetisbuiltonaspiritofinnovationandprogresswhichmeansthesectorneverstandsstill.Thesameistruefortheregulatorsandregulationwhich ThereisoneareawithinfinancialservicesintheUKwhichhasremaineduntapped,however.Therehavebeentweaksaroundtheedges:aconsultationhere,amarketreviewthere,butthefoundational AtStartupCoalition,werecognisethatreformingtheinfrastructurewhichoverseeslendingintheUKisaformidabletask.Therearefewpartsoffinancialserviceswherethereisatoncesomuchatstakeforconsumers,hugecomplexityinproductsandservices,andrapidlychangingmarketdynamicsthatmake Andyet,it is precisely because of the consumer,innovation and market complexity thatconfrontingthis long overdue reform must be a priority for the Government.Building the But first, let us examine how we got to where we are today. ABriefHistory Legislationcoveringconsumercreditwashighlyfragmentedbeforethe1971CrowtherCommitteereportonconsumercredit,whichconcludedthatwholesalerepealandreformwasrequiredinsteadoftweakingaroundtheedges.TheConsumerandSaleandLoanActbecamethebasisfortheConsumerCreditAct Oversubsequent decades,the CCAhasundergoneseveralspringcleans.In2004,asprinklingofstatutoryinstrumentsweretabledtosimplifycontractualtermsandintroduceconsistencyacrosspaperandelectroniccommunications.Meanwhile,in2006,amoresubstantialreformledtotheintroductionof TheGlobal Financial Crisis significantly