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"Many financial websites unfair or unclear"

By admin | January 2nd, 2008 | General

Following a recent review carried out into financial websites the Financial Services Authority has announced that around a quarter of the financial sites that were reviewed were not up to scratch. A total of 77 financial websites were reviewed by the UK’s financial regulator, and 25% were found to be sub-standard, unclear, or unfair. These figures are worrying based on the high volume of consumers that use the Internet to find financial services and information.

One official from the Financial Services Authority stated: “For many people the internet is the channel of choice for shopping around for financial products. However, it can expose consumers to high risk as they are able to make instant purchases without advice. This is why it is so important that firms’ websites are fair, clear and not misleading.”

The FSA also confirmed that although the majority of financial websites were fine another review would be carried out next year with stiff penalties in cases where the sites were still found to be below par.

Following the most recent review FSA official stated that the websites in question “failed to present information in a fair, clear and not misleading way”.

Officials pointed out that one if four financial websites reviewed was either unclear or unfair with the information and services provided. Other issues that were pointed out included confusing navigation, out of date information, and failure to draw the consumer’s attention to important information.

In the meantime the FSA has warned that financial websites must be kept up to date, be clear, fair, easy to navigate, and ensure that consumers see important information. Officials may take action following the next review if companies fail to comply with this.

Tags: comparison sites, financial sites

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