How customer reviews can help you to evidence Consumer Duty outcomes

In financial services, trust is everything. Customers want to know they’re getting fair value, great service, and products that genuinely meet their needs. And with Consumer Duty, the FCA requires companies to prove they’re delivering good customer outcomes - not just claim it.

That’s where independent customer review data comes in. In the FCA’s recent vulnerability review, they praised a mortgage intermediary who used customer review data scores and comments to monitor customer outcomes. (You can read the key takeaways from the review here).

So, how exactly can the data from customer reviews be used to evidence Consumer Duty outcomes?

Specialist data matters in financial services

Customer reviews are an essential source of feedback in every industry. But in financial services, they need to go beyond star ratings and general sentiment. A five-star rating on a generalist review site doesn’t tell a bank whether customers believe they’re receiving fair value or experiencing good customer service.

At Smart Money People, we don’t just collect reviews – we capture insights specifically tailored to the industry. Unlike generalist review sites, which cater to a broad range of sectors, our question set is designed exclusively for financial services. This means that our 13+ datapoints – such as overall score, customer service, understood product details and value for money rating, are extremely useful for evidencing Consumer Duty outcomes and tracking performance.

The importance of benchmarking performance

A key challenge for financial services companies is understanding how they compare to competitors. Without reliable industry-specific benchmarking, companies could overestimate their performance or fail to identify weaknesses before they impact retention and reputation.

Smart Money People enables companies to directly benchmark their performance against competitors and the wider financial services market. For example, if a mortgage lender sees a decline in its value for money scores compared to the sector average, it can take proactive steps to review pricing, improve communication, or enhance service quality – all of which align with Consumer Duty expectations.

Tracking customer outcomes over time

Customer expectations are constantly evolving. So, financial services companies need historical data tracking, rather than relying on one-off feedback snapshots.

With over ten years’ worth of data, Smart Money People enables companies to monitor changes in customer sentiment over time. This makes it easier to spot emerging trends, measure the impact of strategy decisions on customer satisfaction, and provide boards with clear, independent data to support governance and compliance.

The power of data for evidencing outcomes

At its heart, Consumer Duty requires financial services companies to evidence that they’re delivering fair value, clear communication, and good customer outcomes. And Smart Money People’s tailored review data is designed to provide this proof. We also support companies with robust board reporting, offering transparent, third-party data that adds credibility to internal assessments.

Additionally, our data highlights areas where customers may not be receiving fair treatment, allowing companies to take proactive action before any issues escalate further. With FCA scrutiny increasing, companies must not only demonstrate that they’re compliant, but actively monitoring and improving customer outcomes. Using independent data from a specialist financial services platform like Smart Money People makes this process a whole lot easier.

With Consumer Duty putting the spotlight firmly on good customer outcomes, and with consumers becoming more selective about who they trust, financial services companies need to be proactive.

At Smart Money People, we’re proud to help companies turn customer reviews into a competitive advantage. By taking advantage of our insights, firms can not only meet FCA expectations – but stay ahead of the curve.

Smart Money People’s impartial review data can help your company to evidence outcomes for Consumer Duty.

To learn more, contact our Business Development team.