LOOKING AHEAD
THIRD YEAR PLANS WITH OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE

CCTA

I recently received a notification on social media that I had passed my second anniversary as Chief Executive of the Consumer Credit Trade Association. It came as a little bit of a surprise as the time just seems to have flown by.

Looking back, when I took over from Greg Stevens, it was important that we continued his work of advocating on behalf of our members. The CCTA’s mission for over a century has been to protect access to credit and understand the benefits that credit can deliver. Our vision has long been to ensure responsible credit for all and that has been at the heart of our conversations. I am the latest in a line of CEOs that has made that part of my mantra.

We also wanted to add value, so we took the existing work of the CCTA and added new elements. Over the last two years, we have established further channels of communication. We have ongoing discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Ombudsman Service and HM Treasury.

Through these discussions, we have been able to talk about a range of issues. We have made clear that members need more information to help with the implementation of Consumer Duty. We have tried to explain the implications of the focus on affordability. There are many other issues that we have placed on the agenda.

The CCTA’s mission for over a century has been to protect access to credit and understand the benefits that credit can deliver

It has been interesting how during this economic downturn, the knee-jerk reaction of some is to say that we need to switch off the supply of credit. I agree that consumer credit is not always the answer. However, there are still cars that need to be bought to get people to work. Families have back-to-school costs. These are essentials and consumer credit plays its part. So, in much of our advocacy work over the last two years, we have been explaining how modern credit products can facilitate those bigger spends as well as managing cash flow.

Credit is not the answer for dealing with longer-term financial issues with levels of uncertainty. It can be used to manage those temporary, expected, and unexpected peaks and troughs in finances. It can be used to buy those items that will make life easier or open up new opportunities, such as getting to a job that is not accessible through public transport. It has been interesting to make these arguments and represent CCTA members.

One of the advantages of being a member of a trade association that covers some inter-connected sectors is that you can draw from the experience of one and use it in another. For example, our experience with complaints places us in a better position when the attention of claims firms move to another part of our membership. We can see some issues emerging that might be future problems for others.

I confess that I need to learn and understand more of some of the areas I now represent. That is why we often ask members to share their information with us. I welcome the opportunity to speak to members and learn more. It is your experience that we use to develop our positions. You often provide us with examples that we can use in our discussions with the Financial Services Association.

Our annual conference held in Spring last year was a great opportunity to meet many CCTA members and learn more about your experiences and issues of concern. Plans are underway for our 2023 Conference, which we have decided to move back to an Autumn slot. My colleague Phill Harding, as our Head of Membership, has been pushing this forward and I know we are set to build on the success of last year’s conference.

Before that, there will be many opportunities for us to talk. We just held our Winter Summit on Wednesday 1st March. I know that online events can become more of a broadcast rather than a discussion, but we always welcome questions and contributions. Our next chance to speak in person will be at our Spring Summit taking place in London on Wednesday 26th April. Keep an eye on our member communications for more details.

If advocacy is one of our missions, these events all link to another, which is to further build a network of lenders and associates. I should also mention a third aim which is to be a source of insight for our members. Some of that information comes from meetings we have with the FCA and other regulatory bodies. There are other areas where we have developed knowledge through our work with members.

I know from our internal reporting that more and more of you have talked to Naveed Asif, our Head of Policy and Advice. I am very pleased the CCTA Advice Line, which allows members to ask questions, is being well utilised.

Naveed is currently working on more ways in which we can ensure that members receive a flow of information and insight. He has some exciting ideas about how we make changes to our training and professional development programme.

Moving into my third year as Chief Executive, I am aware that we have achieved much but there is still a lot more to be done. I look forward to working with our members through 2023.