Consumer credit firms: what you need to do

Find out what you need to do once your firm is authorised, from reporting to rules and fees.

Authorisation marks the beginning of your firm’s relationship with the FCA.

Once authorised, your firm must:

Continue to meet the very high standards it has met at authorisation.
Put customers at the heart of everything it does.
Act in a way that leads to markets operating with integrity and effective competition.

As a fully authorised firm, you have regulatory obligations to:

Report to us regularly (via RegData).
Tell us about any changes in your details or your control (via Connect).
Pay us the correct fees.
Keep up to date with rules and regulations (via the FCA Handbook).
Tell us about potential problems.

Checklist for consumer credit firms

Now you are FCA authorised, register on:

RegData[1], our online reporting system
Connect[2]
our Online Invoicing portal[3]

1. Report to us regularly

All firms need to report to us accurately and on time.

Information you submit helps us to:

Identify trends and emerging risks in the market.
Monitor compliance.
Inform our approach to supervision.

What your firm needs to report to us depends on:

Your permissions.
How much business you are doing.

Sign up for RegData

Newly authorised consumer credit firms must register on RegData, our system for online regulatory reporting.

An appropriate individual at the firm, who is approved by us as an Approved Person, can register for RegData via the website.

Alternatively, you can use the registration key emailed to the firm when it became authorised.

Once you’re registered, log in to RegData to check what reports are due for your firm and their deadlines.

How to use RegData: resources[6]

Regular reporting

Find out what reports are due in your reporting schedule on RegData.

How often and what you need to report depends on:

The type of firm: limited permission or full permission
The nature of your consumer credit activities

We’ll use the data you give us in your report, to:

Work out what fees you need to pay.
See how often you use your permissions.
Check your firm’s income.

Failing to report to us regularly can lead to:

A £250 fee.
The removal of your permission (in serious cases).

2. Tell us about changes to your business

We need to know about material changes to your business, such as any change in control in your company.

Use our Connect[7] system to tell us something (notifications) or apply for something, such as:

Tell us about a change of address.
Apply for a new approved person if someone leaves your firm.
Apply for a change of permissions.

If in doubt, call the contact centre[5].

What do you need to change?

If you or your firm wants to acquire or increase control in a firm that we regulate, you must first:
notify us, and
get our approval

Not doing so is a criminal offence, and means you may be liable to pay a fine.

Read more about changes in control[8]
To change the scope of your firm’s regulated activities, submit a variation of permissions form on Connect[7].
Read more about variation of permission[9]
To amend, add or remove your trading names, complete a firm details form on Connect[10].
Read more about trading names[9]
To update your contact details or address, you'll need to complete a firm details form on Connect[12].
Read more on updating your firm's details[8]
To update an accounting reference date (ARD), you first need to change it at Companies House[9].
Once that change is confirmed, log into Connect[14] and complete a firm details form.
(If you are not registered with Companies House, go direct to the firm details form to change your information.)
You need to apply to us to cancel your authorisation or registration via Connect[17] (cancellation of authorisation application).
Find out how to cancel[3]
To change your firm's legal status, you’ll need to make sure the new entity is authorised, so you can carry on conducting out your regulated activities.
Depending on the legal structure of the previous entity and the new entity, you'll either need to submit a:
new authorisation application, or
SUP 15 notification[4]
Read more on changing legal status[5]
Use Forms A to E and J on Connect[18] to make changes to your firm's approved persons.
Add an approved person: Form A
Withdraw an application for an approved person: Form B
Remove a controlled function: Form C
Changes in personal details: Form D
Transfer an approved person internally: Form E
Significant changes in responsibilities: Form J

3. Pay the correct fees

Most authorised firms must pay us an annual fee.

How much your firm needs to pay will depend on:

If you are a limited or full permission firm.
What income you generate from your consumer credit activities.

Our fees year runs from April to March.

Check our consumer credit annual fees[1] to see how much you can expect to pay for the relevant financial year.

It's important to give us the correct figure in your reports because that will help us work out what your fees are going to be.

Consumer credit income[2] is a common area for confusion.

If you cancel your authorisation or registration before 31 March, you won’t need to pay the annual fee for the following financial year.

Find out about fees for cancelling your authorisation or registration[3]

Invoicing

Use our online invoicing portal to:

View fees, invoices and statements.
Pay fees online (by card).
Set up Direct Debit instruction.
Submit fee tariff data (if requested).

Learn more about online invoicing[5]

4. Keep up with our rules and principles for business

To find a particular rule or guidance on an area of your business, see our Consumer Credit Sourcebook (CONC)[6].

The principles for business underpin CONC. For example, we expect firms to:

Be open and cooperative with us as a regulator (Principle 11).
Act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers (Principle 12).

Approved persons within your firm need to keep up to date with the rules that apply to the firm.

Approved persons

An approved person is somebody within the firm who has passed a fit and proper test and that person, for example a director, will undertake certain functions within the firm called controlled functions.

We update our Handbook from time to time, so it's important to keep up to date:

Sign up to regulatory roundups[4] or our other email alerts.
Check the website regularly.
Save the Handbook on your favourite toolbar.

If you want to find out more about a certain topic:

S[7]tart on our website[30].
Check our Handbook[28].
Contact us[8] if you’re still unsure.

5. Problems

One of the principles of a regulated firm is to be open and honest with the regulator.

Reporting and notifying us of events helps make sure:

Our financial system is working well as a whole.
We are regulating firms within the market but also making sure there is fair competition.

We're here to help and we want to work through any issues with you.

Reporting significant events

Whether you need to report an event to us will be down primarily to a judgement call.

Think about:

Is there a risk to your customers?
Is there a risk to the business?

Tell us about events or issues that may cause harm to their customers or to the business. These are non-exhaustive examples:

Loss of data.
System failures.
Any changes to their business portfolio, such as taking on a new portfolio of customers.
Entering administration or liquidation.
Engaging with another regulator or law enforcement agency.

If you feel there's something you need to tell us, complete a SUP15 notification form[20].

If you’re in doubt, it’s best to talk to us first. We can help work out your firm’s next steps.

Apply to become a consumer credit lender or hirer[9]

First published: 27/02/2025 Last updated: 27/02/2025