Nationwide Building Society, which had tested an “automated solution providing investment advice” with the FCA, now says that “tech-only advice is not the answer to bridging the advice gap.”
The building society was within the first cohort of firms that participated in the FCA’s Advice Unit in 2016.
The unit was established following recommendations from the Financial Advice Market Review that the FCA should provide regulatory feedback to firms developing automated advice and discretionary investment management models.
By 2018, Nationwide had launched an “automated solution providing digital savings guidance” and was accepted for feedback on “automated solution providing investment advice.”
While the bank has pressed ahead with developments, it says that it will not completely automate its advice process.
Last month, Nationwide launched a full financial advice service over video. ‘On the Go’ is carried out via PCs or tablets and has “every element of a normal branch based appointment available on the video call, from advice to signing, and all documents are shared on screen and sent in the post following the meeting.”
A Nationwide spokeswoman confirmed that no part of the service is fully automated, however.
Nationwide says in a statement to Mortgage Strategy sister title Money Marketing: “We were pleased to have been one of the firms included in the FCA sandbox and the positive response from our members to the digital tools we developed.
“Our learnings continue to inform our developing strategy both for digital tools and the importance of high quality financial planning advice.
“However, we believe technology-only advice is not the answer to bridging the advice gap.
“At Nationwide we believe a digital system only works if there is a human face wrapped around it, but it certainly can be part of the solution.
“We believe that technology is not a substitute for seeking help from human beings, which is why we have made advice available via our financial planning managers in branches, over the phone and via Nationwide Now.”
“People must be at the heart of any service – particularly when it comes to financial advice. As such, ‘robo-advice’ should only ever really be a support service to advice as a whole, catering for the very different needs of customers. ”
The recently launched ‘On the Go’ video service initially covers protection and investment advice, and separately over 55’s later life advice such as mortgages and financial planning.
