Knowledge Bank has launched a new tool to help lenders and brokers satisfy the new Consumer Duty regulations.

The tool aims to help with the early identification of borrower vulnerability and highlight underserved areas within lending policy and the wider market.

Knowledge Bank, whose platform is the UK’s largest database of lending criteria, suggested this can save lenders hours of work as well as will demonstrate best practice and also provide evidence as required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

CEO of Knowledge Bank, Nicola Firth, said that one of the most challenging aspects of Consumer Duty will be to identify instances of vulnerability.

“This is open to a certain degree of interpretation and is not confined to a particular group or type of borrower,” she commented. “Any borrower could potentially fall into the category of being ‘vulnerable’ and this tool will help filter results and expose the transient nature of vulnerability due to life events.

“Because of the unique way in which Knowledge Bank handles lender’s policy we are able to denote which of these may indicate a vulnerable situation for the customer which is either permanent or temporary. Using this information, lenders and brokers can consider their appropriate response to meet the standards required.”

For brokers, as a part of their current Knowledge Bank subscription, the areas of lending relevant to Consumer Duty will be identified to them, alerting them to the fact that additional questions or care may be needed with the case.

This will also be highlighted on the brokers “evidence of research” document as a part of their compliance file. The same will be true for sales and underwriting teams who use Knowledge Bank’s KB PRO, providing a robust tool for identification and evidence of consideration being given to those customers.

Lenders using Knowledge Bank’s “Insights” tool will also have the facility to interrogate the data to see the prevalence of searches in these categories and maintain a record of their responses. Knowledge Bank suggested this will also give lenders a unique view of underserved areas of the market in relation to Consumer Duty.

“We have worked closely with our lender, network and mortgage club partners to really understand what tools they need to ensure that the new rules are made as easy as possible to navigate,” Firth added.

“The clock is ticking on Consumer Duty coming into force and so we have worked hard to have the tools in place now so that both brokers and lenders are well served and provided for. This early delivery also allows lenders especially to hit the end of April deadline to have in place what they need ready for July.”

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