Financial Literacy Education for Customers and Call Center Agents

Ensure your agents are well versed on customer vulnerabilities and life events in line with FCA expectations.
The importance of training bank employees in the UK cannot be overstated. With the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) emphasizing the need for enhanced training, it is crucial for banks to equip their staff with the necessary skills to handle various customer scenarios effectively.
Financial literacy is the foundation of effective banking services. Employees who are well-versed in financial concepts can provide better advice and support to customers, helping them make informed decisions. The FCA has highlighted the importance of financial literacy in promoting financial inclusion and growth (Catalysing productivity and growth: A change in mindset on financial inclusion). By understanding how vulnerabilities and life events impact customers’ financial health and offering the most appropriate products and services, bank employees can guide customers through complex financial decisions, ultimately fostering trust and loyalty.
We offer comprehensive training programs designed to equip your staff with financial literacy skills to support customers building good credit, how to handle sensitive life events, and supporting vulnerable customers—all at an unbeatable price of just £150 per person.

Our Solution to Financial Literacy’s Growing Importance
- Comprehensive Financial Literacy Training
- Equip your employees with a deep understanding of financial concepts.
- Enhance their ability to provide accurate and valuable advice to customers.
- Foster trust and loyalty through knowledgeable and confident service.
- Sensitive Handling of Life Events
- Train your staff to manage situations like bereavement, caregiving, and loss of income with empathy and professionalism.
- Improve customer satisfaction by offering timely and compassionate support during challenging times.
- Support for Vulnerable Customers
- Ensure your employees can recognize and respond to Signs of Vulnerability
- Provide tailored support to protect vulnerable customers and comply with FCA guidelines.
- Cost-Effective Training Solutions
- At just £150 per person, our training programs offer exceptional value.
- Invest in your employees’ development without breaking the bank.
- Benefit from improved employee performance, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
Key Benefits
Employee Productivity: Financially literate employees are more productive. A study found that employees who understand financial concepts are better at managing their finances, leading to reduced stress and increased focus at work The Benefits of Financial Literacy Training in the Workplace.
Customer Trust: Banks with well-trained employees in financial literacy see higher customer satisfaction and trust. Customers are more likely to follow advice from knowledgeable staff, leading to better financial outcomes for both the bank and the customer The power of employee financial literacy: Growing bank business by empowering and elevating.
Bereavement Handling: The FCA has reported that timely and compassionate handling of bereavement claims can significantly improve customer satisfaction. Delays and insensitivity can lead to complaints and loss of trust..
Support During Financial Hardships: Employees trained to handle situations like loss of income can provide better support, helping customers navigate financial difficulties and maintain their financial stability.
Vulnerability Recognition: The FCA’s guidance on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers emphasizes that recognizing and appropriately responding to vulnerability is crucial. Proper training can help employees identify signs of vulnerability and provide tailored support.
Regulatory Compliance: Banks that invest in training to support vulnerable customers are more likely to comply with regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of fines and reputational damage.
Employee Retention: Training programs improve job satisfaction and retention rates. Employees who feel supported and well-trained are more likely to stay with their employer, reducing turnover costs.
Financial Performance: Banks that invest in employee training see better financial performance. Well-trained employees contribute to higher efficiency, better customer service, and increased profitability.
FINANCIAL LITERACY: Handling Life Events

Enhancing Customer Experience – Enriching Agents – Increasing Effectiveness
This course will help your agents gain a solid understanding of financial planning and equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to assist customers in navigating significant life events that have personal and financial implications.
Making informed financial decisions is crucial when it comes to major life events such as starting a family, buying a home, planning for retirement, having increased expenses or experiencing a reduction in income. This course provides agents with valuable insights, resources, and communication strategies to effectively guide customers through these milestones as well as times when they are experiencing vulnerability.
Through scenario-based learning, role-playing exercises, and practical tools, agents will learn how to address customer needs, provide tailored solutions, and build trust when helping customers through vulnerability and navigating major life events. You will learn about a diverse range of topics including budgeting, saving, managing debt, credit scores, and more. We will explore various financial planning tools and techniques that will enable you to aid customers in making sound financial decisions and achieving their long-term goals.
Course Includes:
- Course Overview
- Study Guide
- Learning Objectives
- Resources Referenced in the Course
- Course Structure
- Budgeting Tool
What Customers will Learn:
By the end of this course, agents will:
- Understand the fundamental concepts of financial literacy
- Understand the types of credit available
- Understand what makes up a credit score and strategies to improve this
- Gain knowledge about the financial stresses that happen during key life events and the impact of these on credit
- Understand how to identify customer vulnerability and support customers experiencing this
- Aid customers in budgeting, saving, managing debt responsibly and coping with financial stress
- Be able to effectively communicate with customers and control customer calls
- Be able to articulate the financial stresses related with each life event
- Be in a position to leverage tailored resources and solutions with customers experiencing a life event to help them manage this more effectively
- Develop a suite of effective phrases and questions for use in customer conversations where financial stress is evident
- Build confidence in leveraging the tools and techniques for handling vulnerable customers during life events through knowledge checks, scenario exploration and role play practice
Course Structure
The first 3 chapters of the course are pre-requisites for completing the remainder of the course as they provide foundational skills that are leveraged in the remaining content. The Life events can be leveraged as a whole or as individual components depending the typical circumstances of your customer base. There is a knowledge test/ quiz for each chapter and each life event has role plays and a knowledge check to help solidify and embed learnings.
Introduction (Pre-requisite)
- Course overview and description
- Learning objectives
- Course structure
- Participant guide
- Resources referenced in the course
Credit Health (Pre-requisite)
- Types of credit
- Components of a credit score
- Components of financial stress and their impact on credit
- Strategies for bad credit and improving credit health
- Introduction to the impact of life events on credit (with scenarios)
Approaching the Conversation (Pre-requisite)
- Effective communication skills (you vs I; open vs closed questions)
- Controlling calls
- Positive Phrases
Exploring Life Events
Each life event contains the following components:
- About the life event
- Financial impacts
- Resources & solutions
- Empathic phrases and questions
- Scenarios/role play
Once agents have completed the pre-requisites, they can complete some or all the life event chapters relevant to their role:
- Introduction to life events
- Vulnerable customers
- Illness
- Caregiving and power of attourney
- Bereavement
- Retirement
- Unemployment/reduction in income
- Marriage
- Parenthood
- Separation & divorce

Maintaining Credit Health – Customer Education
Equip borrowers with the knowledge and skills to maintain credit health and navigate significant life events.
From starting a family to buying a home or planning for retirement, this course offers insights, resources and tools to make informed financial decisions and manage their finances effectively through life’s key milestones.
Course Includes:
- Mobile-friendly education in 10 minutes
- Complementary budget tool
- Suite of continuous learning resources
- Knowledge checks to validate understanding
- Certificate of completion
What Customers will Learn:
By the end of this course, customers will understand:
- The types of credit available
- Credit scores and the factors used to make up a credit score
- Financial stresses that happen during key life events and the impact of them on credit health
- How to improve their credit health and credit score
- How to create and stick to a budget
- How to obtain, review, and dispute their credit report and protect against identity theft

Frequently Asked Questions
How do the educational courses work?
Our courses are web-based, meaning there are no required system integrations. Customers and agents receive a login via CBS Academy’s online portal where they can take the course and track their progress.
Can I demo the courses?
We are confident about the value of our education and invite you to try it out first! Reach out to receive up to three logins and assess the value of our education upfront.
How do these course differ from other online training?
FOR AGENTS: Other courses don’t go through each life event in detail. Our course walks agents through eight key life events and the financial implications on their customers for each. By the end of the course, agents will fully understand the potential credit impacts and can help find the right solution for every customer.
FOR YOU: All of our material is white-labeled so that it can be branded by your brand standards.
How much does the education module cost?
Our financial literacy education program costs just £150 per agent.