On 31 July 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published its response to the call for input it had issued in relation to its review of high-cost credit products (FS 17/2).

The key points from the Feedback Statement are:

  • The FCA has decided to maintain the high-cost short-term price cap at its current level;
  • The FCA has undertaken to review the price cap again in 2020;
  • The review of the wider high-cost credit industry has identified a number of issues which the FCA consider may cause consumer harm, specifically in the following fields:
    • rent-to-own;
    • home-collected credit;
    • catalogue credit;
    • arranged and unarranged overdrafts.
  • The FCA will investigate these concerns further and, should it consider intervention is needed and justified, it will consult in Spring 2018 on proposals concerning both overdrafts and other forms of high-cost credit.

The Feedback Statement can be read in full here: FS17/2