Under the “products and services outcome”, products and services must meet the needs, characteristics (including characteristics of vulnerability[1]) and objectives of an identified target group of customers and must be distributed appropriately.[2] This necessitates a robust product approval process. Moreover, the features of a product that are visible to consumers must be capable of being understood by the target market.[3]
The products and services outcome means different things, depending on whether the firm in question is a manufacturer, or a distributor, of the product in question, and depending on whether or not the product is open or closed.
However, the products and services outcome DOES NOT require firms to:
- exclude particular groups, such as customers who might have characteristics of vulnerability and whose needs or objectives a product might meet,
- ensure that products or services are suitable for individual customers within the target market, except where this is relevant in the context (which might be the case, for example, when providing advice or discretionary services, or assessing affordability under a loan), or
- mitigate harm that was not foreseeable.[4]
Next time
Next time we will move on to begin looking at target markets. Stay tuned!!
[1] Policy Statement PS22/9, 6.9
[2] Policy Statement PS22/9, 6.1
[3] Policy Statement PS22/9, 6.11
[4] FG 22/5, 6.81
