Parliamentary Reception: Credit in the corridors of power

Held in the corridors of power, liaising with government and regulatory powerbrokers, around 200 attendees will meet to discuss the industry’s regulatory requirements for the coming years and deliberate on challenges and observations with those setting the regulatory tone.

By bringing together power brokers with those who implement policy on the ground, the Parliamentary Reception seeks to:

• Demystify the practical challenges involved in financial inclusion and the customer journey;
• Gauge the expectations and requirements of financial services industry;
• Liaise with those who directly affect credit access.

The speakers

Credit Strategy is proud to confirm that, yet again, the Parliamentary Reception will play host to speakers of the highest quality from across the government and credit profession.

Chief among them are Liberal Democrat leader and former secretary of state for business Sir Vince Cable, who has been continually highlighting the issue of over-indebtedness among consumers (p17).

Conservative parliamentary undersecretary of state for small businesses Kelly Tolhurst will also address delegates. In October, Tolhurst put forward proposals end the problem of late payments to small businesses by large companies which “abuse their position in the market”.

Among the proposals is a call for evidence on whether boards can put in place responsible payment practices throughout their supply chain, for example by giving a non-executive director specific responsibility for their company’s overall prompt payment performance. Fellow Conservative Lee Rowley, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Alternative Lending will also be among the speakers.

They will be joined by speakers from across the credit industry include Credit Strategy chief executive Luke Broadhurst, the Money Advice Trust’s Joanna Elson, the Lending Standards Board’s Dave Pickering and Credit Week’s lead support the Chartered Institute of Credit Management’s Philip King.

The venue

In-keeping with the calibre of speakers, the Parliamentary Reception will be held on the Terrace Pavilion at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster on March 19, 2019.

While stakeholders will have a crucial chance to raise their thoughts with those driving policy, the reception will provide lenders, regulators, debt purchasers, debt collection agencies, credit scoring experts and trade associations to network and discuss best practice.

In addition to speeches and networking, the results of a research project produced by Experian and YouGov in association with Credit Strategy into the financial condition of UK consumers will be announced.

The research forms part of the third annual Credit Awareness Week, which seeks to promote financial inclusion through awareness and data. The findings will be presented by Experian managing director, UK&I EMEA Charles Butterworth.

Millions of people across in the UK are having their access to mainstream financial services affected through a lack of information.

This research will reveal the scale of the issue, the impact of attempts to improve that access through schemes such as Open Banking and the inclusion of rental data, along with areas in which further improvements can be made.

Last year’s Credit Awareness Week survey revealed a widespread lack of financial knowledge among the public, with the percentage of people who said they know their current credit score rising from 22 percent to 26 percent.

Not only that, but the survey found that 39 percent wrongly believe their own credit score can be affected by a previous resident of their address having a poor credit score, while 14 percent thought, incorrectly, that checking their own credit report and score has an impact on their credit rating.

Many of the questions in this year’s survey were the same, allowing for year-on-year comparison and to help build an idea of long-term trends in financial education levels among the public.

Agenda

11.30am Security check and registration opens

12.15pm Terrace Pavilion to open for welcome drinks

12.30pm Welcome speeches to commence

1.00pm Networking, drinks and canapés

3.00pm End of reception

Who attends?

• Credit 500 members
• Regulators
• Credit risk and scoring experts
• Collections professionals
• The most influential lenders and major industry stakeholders who affect financial inclusion and debtor treatment.

If you feel you qualify for a VIP pass, please act quickly as places are extremely limited. Call us on 020 7940 4835 or email enquiries@creditstrategy.co.uk.