The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined HSBC £6,280,100 for the poor treatment of its customers. According to the FCA, HSBC failed to properly consider people’s circumstances when they had missed payments. This transgression took place between June 2017 and October 2018.
The FCA explains that these shortcomings were due to HSBC’s deficiencies in policies and poor training of staff.
HSBC apparently notified the FCA in 2018 that it had not performed well in the treatment of customers in financial difficulty. HSBC then spent £94 million to improve procedures while issuing redress payments totaling £185 million to over 1.5 million customers.
While noting that HSBC deserves credit for identifying the failings and moving to rectify the situation, Therese Chambers, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said the events should be a warning to all lenders who must understand customers’ situations so as not to make them worse.
The FCA added that HSBC qualified for a 30% discount to the financial penalty imposed, which would otherwise have been £8,971,600.
