Empowerment starts with trust — not just training.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is right to highlight the “understanding gap” under the Consumer Duty.
Speaking at the Fair4All Finance Delivering Financial Inclusion Together Conference, chief executive Nikhil Rathi said widening access to financial services without improving understanding risks “points of vulnerability where small decisions carry big consequences”.
Too many consumers today have access to financial products without the capability to use them safely. But as the Academy of Life Planning has long argued — the answer is not just to make consumers more capable. It’s to make the system more trustworthy.
Capability isn’t the cure for corruption
At the Academy, we do our part. We offer free education to raise the Financial Activation Measure (FAM) — helping people become more conscious, confident, and capable in their financial lives. But teaching consumers to “spot a scam” only goes so far when scams are designed into the system.
Capability cannot compensate for corruption.
Education cannot fix what is engineered for extraction.
If structurally untrustworthy products remain the norm — opaque fees, conflicted incentives, hidden commissions — then the vulnerable will always be outgunned by design.
Capability by design must meet trust by design
The FCA now speaks of “capability by design.” That’s progress. But true protection demands structural trustworthiness by design — products and services built to be transparent, fair, and fiduciary in spirit.
A structurally trustworthy system doesn’t just warn consumers of risk; it removes unnecessary risk. It doesn’t just disclose conflicts; it eliminates them. It doesn’t rely on clients to understand complex documentation; it ensures the design itself cannot deceive.
This is the essence of fiduciary architecture — systems built not on caveat emptor, but on conscience.
The future: open AI + open trust
Technology can help. With trustworthy, open-source AI, we can increase capability and access simultaneously. Tools that explain financial products clearly, reveal true costs, and verify integrity can help level the playing field.
But the goal isn’t to arm citizens against a hostile marketplace — it’s to transform the marketplace itself. A society built on structural trust doesn’t need to rely on suspicion and self-defence; it thrives on transparency and shared accountability.
The real test of Consumer Duty
The FCA’s next frontier should not be “proving understanding.” It should be proving trustworthiness.
Can a product mislead even a well-informed consumer?
Can an adviser profit more from one outcome than another?
Can an algorithm optimise for profit over fairness?
If the answer is yes — then the product fails the test.
A call to planners and policymakers
As life planners, we must lead by example. The Academy’s mission is to take scams off the table — not just by educating the public, but by creating and promoting structurally trustworthy alternatives.
This means:
âś… Open systems, not black boxes.
âś… Transparent fees, not hidden commissions.
âś… Empowerment tools, not dependency traps.
Let’s build a system where trust is not a promise — it’s the product.
Join us at the Academy of Life Planning.
Let’s raise capability and integrity — together.
Because only when products and services are structurally trustworthy can consumers truly be free.
Get SAFE Exists to Change That
Get SAFE (Support After Financial Exploitation) is building a national lifeline for victims — providing free emotional recovery, life-planning, and justice support through our:
- Fellowship:Â peer-to-peer recovery and community.
- Witnessing Service:Â trauma-informed advocacy for those seeking redress.
- Citizen Investigator Training:Â empowering survivors to uncover truth and pursue justice.
Our Goal: Raise ÂŁ20,000 to Rebuild Lives
Your contribution will help us:
Register Get SAFE as a charity (CIO)
Build our website, CRM, and outreach platform
Fund our first year of free recovery and justice programmes
Every ÂŁ50 Changes a Life
Each £50 donation funds a bursary for one survivor — giving them access to the tools, training, and community that restore confidence, purpose, and hope.
This Isn’t Just a Fundraiser — It’s a Movement
We’re reclaiming fairness and rebuilding trust, one life at a time.
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Be part of the movement to rebuild lives and restore justice.
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