Consumer Credit Regulatory Support
Comprehensive FCA regulatory support for consumer credit activities including lending, credit facilitation, debt management, and debt collection. We help you meet FCA requirements to lend responsibly, treat customers fairly, and maintain robust compliance monitoring.
The Consumer Credit Compliance journey
The route from scoping your permissions to a decision. The FCA's part of it is fixed; the preparation before it is where applications are won or lost.
Identify which credit activities you carry on
Lending, broking and debt administration are separate permissions, and firms often hold a different combination from the one their business needs.
- Map each credit activity to the permission it needs
- Confirm whether limited or full permission is the route
- Identify exclusions that change the answer
Build the conduct framework
Consumer credit is judged on customer outcomes across the book, so the evidence has to cover the customer journey and not only the policies. CONC is the FCA sourcebook those standards sit in.
- Write policies and controls to the conduct standards that apply
- Evidence affordability, arrears and vulnerability arrangements
- Set up monitoring that shows what customers experienced
Submit to FCA
Submitted through the FCA's Connect portal with the application fee of £560 – £11,260.
- Complete submission through Connect
- Application fee paid at submission
- Case officer assigned by the FCA
FCA review
The statutory determination period is 6–12 months — six months for a complete application, twelve if it is incomplete when submitted.
- Case officer raises questions on the submission
- Further information requests answered and evidenced
- Weak responses, not complexity, are the common cause of delay
Permission granted
Permission is granted and the firm can carry on the regulated activity, subject to any requirements attached to it.
- Permission recorded on the Financial Services Register
- Any limitations or requirements confirmed
- Reporting and supervision obligations begin
- What applies
- Consumer credit lending
- Where it sits in the rules
- CONC sourcebook
- FCA determination
- 6–12 months
- FCA application fee
- £560 – £11,260
Statutory period from a complete application
Limited permission is category 2; full permission is 3, 5 or 6 by activity
Consumer Credit Permission Types
The FCA offers two types of consumer credit permissions based on your business model
Limited Permission
Secondary or Complementary Activities — For firms where consumer credit is not the primary business activity
- Consumer credit activities are ancillary to main business
- Simplified application process
- Lower regulatory burden
- Suitable for businesses offering credit as a secondary service
Full Permission
Primary Business Activity — For firms whose main business involves consumer credit activities
- Consumer credit as core business function
- Comprehensive regulatory requirements
- Full FCA supervision and oversight
- Required for lending, debt collection, or credit broking as primary activity
Core FCA Requirements
Essential compliance obligations for consumer credit firms
Lend ResponsiblyWhat responsible lending requires in practice.
- Comprehensive affordability assessments
- Creditworthiness checks and verification
- Appropriate lending decisions based on customer circumstances
- Fair pricing and interest rate structures
Treat Customers FairlyWhat fair treatment requires in practice.
- Clear and transparent communication
- Fair treatment throughout customer lifecycle
- Appropriate support for customers in financial difficulty
- Complaints handling and resolution procedures
Compliance MonitoringWhat compliance monitoring requires in practice.
- Regular compliance oversight and reviews
- Management information and reporting systems
- Internal audit and quality assurance
- Ongoing regulatory change tracking
What you will need to produce
- Consumer-credit perimeter and permissions analysis
- Business plan and CONC control framework
- Customer journey and vulnerability evidence
- Monitoring, complaints and outcome reporting
Map the consumer-credit activity
Permissions and controls follow the activity the firm actually carries on.
Activity perimeter
Separate lending, broking, administration, debt counselling and collection roles.
CONC controls
Translate the relevant CONC expectations into customer, staff and system processes.
Customer journey
Review affordability, vulnerability, communications, support, complaints and collections.
Monitor outcomes across the book
A sustainable framework links customer evidence to management action.
File and journey testing
Test decisions, disclosures, records, customer support and treatment of customers in difficulty.
MI and complaints
Use outcome measures, root causes and complaints to identify emerging issues.
Remedial action
Assign owners and evidence for changes to policies, controls, training and customer processes.
How MEMA helps
Consumer credit is judged on customer outcomes across the whole book, so the work runs from getting the permission right to being able to show what happened after.
- 01
Map the credit activity
Which consumer-credit activities you carry on and which permissions they need — lending, broking, debt administration and the rest are separate permissions, and firms routinely hold the wrong combination.
- 02
Build the CONC framework
Policies and controls built to the conduct standards that apply to the activity, written for the staff who will operate them.
- 03
Work the customer journey
Pre-contract disclosure, affordability, arrears and forbearance reviewed end to end, because that is where consumer-credit outcomes are actually decided.
- 04
Evidence vulnerability and fair treatment
The identification and support arrangements for customers in difficulty, documented so they can be tested rather than asserted.
- 05
Monitor outcomes across the book
File review, complaints analysis and management information that show what customers experienced — the evidence a supervisor asks for first.
What our consumer credit support covers
Pre-Authorisation Services — Comprehensive support to help you achieve FCA consumer credit authorisation. Post-Authorisation Services — Ongoing compliance support to maintain your FCA authorisation.
Business Assessment
- Detailed fact-finding and business model analysis
- Activity classification and permission scoping
- Threshold conditions assessment
- Gap analysis against FCA requirements
Regulatory Business Plan
- Comprehensive business plan preparation
- Financial projections and capital adequacy
- Risk assessment and mitigation strategies
- Compliance monitoring framework design
Application Support
- FCA Connect application completion
- Supporting documentation preparation
- FCA query response management
- Application tracking and liaison
Ongoing Compliance
- Regular compliance health checks and reviews
- Regulatory change impact assessments
- FCA return and reporting support
- Annual compliance monitoring oversight
Policies & Procedures
- Comprehensive compliance manual development
- Policy and procedure documentation
- Staff training materials and programmes
- Regular policy review and updates
Compliance Monitoring
- Monitoring plan design and implementation
- Management information framework
- File review and quality assurance
- Compliance testing and reporting
Consumer Credit Activities We Support
Regulatory guidance across all consumer credit sectors
Lending
Credit Facilitation
Debt Management
Debt Collection
Expert Consumer Credit Guidance
Our team of ex-regulators and compliance specialists brings deep expertise in consumer credit regulation. We provide practical, tailored solutions to help you meet FCA requirements and maintain ongoing compliance in this complex and evolving regulatory landscape.
Responsible Lending
Fair Treatment
Robust Monitoring
Compliance function stabilised after a sudden departure
The firm's compliance resource left suddenly, leaving it exposed to regulatory risk and key-person risk with no one owning its obligations.
Restored a strong compliance footing and avoided FCA escalation during the gap.
Sectors We Support
This service is available for firms across these regulated sectors
Related FCA Guidance
Deeper reading on the regulatory framework behind consumer credit.
Compliance Monitoring Programme
Building a risk-based monitoring plan that tests customer outcomes, not just policy existence.
HandbookCONC: Consumer Credit Sourcebook
The FCA rules covering lending, broking, debt management, and credit information.
SectorConsumer Credit Affordability
Affordability assessment requirements and how the FCA measures responsible lending.
HandbookFCA Authorisation Evidence
What evidence the FCA expects to see in your authorisation application.
Frequently asked questions
Which consumer-credit activities need to be mapped?
The analysis may include lending, credit broking, debt administration, debt counselling, collection and related activities. The firm's actual customer and contractual journey determines the permissions questions.
What does responsible lending evidence involve?
The framework should connect affordability and creditworthiness, vulnerability, product design, customer communications, support and monitoring to the firm's decisions and outcomes.
How does CONC fit into the service model?
The relevant CONC requirements should be translated into policies, processes, controls, staff responsibilities and file or outcome testing that reflect the business model.
What should ongoing monitoring cover?
Monitoring can cover customer files, promotions, complaints, affordability, vulnerability, collections, outcomes, governance MI and the remediation of issues identified.
Related Services
View all services →Need Consumer Credit Regulatory Support?
Contact our expert team for guidance on consumer credit authorisation and compliance
Phone: 0330 133 0811
Email: contact@memaconsultants.com