What is the Consumer Duty? A guide to the FCA regulation for consumer brands

Since we launched NatWest Boxed in 2022, the Consumer Duty has been one of our most asked‑about topics. That’s not surprising — the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced its final guidelines on the Duty in July 2022, and the past two years have been marked by important milestones for firms to comply with the regulation.

Our clients — primarily consumer brands that sell online — are rarely experts in financial services regulation. They are keen to know how the Duty works and how it will affect their operations. This is especially true if they are offering embedded finance products. So we prepared this guide to help, exploring:

• What is the Consumer Duty?

• Obligations and opportunities

• Who's who in the embedded finance distribution chain?

• Working together for great customer outcomes

• Why work with a licensed bank for embedded finance?