Skip to content
Money and Pensions Service Website
Cymraeg
  • About us
    • Who we are
    • Board
      • Advisory Group to the Board
    • Executive Leadership Team
    • MoneyHelper
      • Share our cost of living campaign
    • Welsh Language Scheme
    • Careers
  • Our work
    • UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing
      • What is financial wellbeing?
    • Talk Money Week
      • Talk Money Week for schools
    • Debt
      • Breathing Space
      • Money Adviser Network
      • Quality Assurance Framework
    • Pensions
    • Money Guiders
    • Talk Learn Do
  • Work with us
    • Build financial wellbeing in your location
      • Scotland
      • Northern Ireland
      • Wales
      • North West England
      • North East England
      • Yorkshire and the Humber
      • West Midlands
      • East Midlands
      • East of England
      • London
      • South West England
      • South East England
    • Employers
    • Financial services
    • Health and social care
    • Housing
    • Local authorities
    • Schools
    • Procurement
  • Media centre
    • Press office
    • Press releases
    • Financial wellbeing blog
  • Publications
    • Business plan and Corporate Strategy
    • Consultations and responses
    • Research
    • MoneyHelper pension take up dashboard
  • Cymraeg

Cookies on maps.org.uk


Cookies are files saved on your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website. We use cookies to store information about how you use MaPS, such as the pages you visit. For more information visit our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.

Some cookies are essential for the site to function correctly, such as those remembering your progress through our tools, or using our webchat service.

These cookies allow us to collect anonymised data about how our website is being used, helping us to make improvements to the services we provide to you.


Reject additional cookies Save preferences Accept all cookies

  • Money Guiders Home
  • Get started
  • Confidence checker
  • About
  1. MaPS
  2. Money Guiders
  3. Competency Framework
  4. 1. Knowing your customer

Competency Framework: knowing your customer

🡨 Competency Framework Home

  • Foundations

    Skills and behaviours

    A. Personal qualities and attributes
    B. Transferable skills
    C. Self-management

    Knowledge and compliance

    D. The boundaries of the service and of your role
    E. Signposting customers
    F. Compliance and safeguarding
  • Technical Domains

    1. Knowing your customer
    2. Debt
    3. Borrowing
    4. Welfare and benefits
    5. Budgeting and cashflow
    6. Savings
    7. Investments
    8. Taxation
    9. Insurance
    10. Households
    11. Pensions
    12. Planning for later life

Technical Domains

1. Knowing your customer

This domain is about understanding who the customer is and their needs – which they may or may not be aware of – and draws on many of the cross-cutting behaviours and skills that underpin practice. It requires the practitioner to develop an understanding of their customers, including background, circumstances, expectations and goals. The domain comprises Tiers 1 and 2 only.

  1. Tier 1
  2. Tier 2
1.1.1 Ask questions and listen carefully to the customers’ responses, clarifying when appropriate, to determine the complexity and urgency of need
1.1.2 Awareness of the holistic nature of money guidance, and that many areas are linked (e.g. debt and benefits; homes and mortgages and borrowing etc.)
1.1.3 Awareness of the ways in which life events can affect an individual’s circumstances, for example: illness; having a baby or child, including adopting and fostering; new job; moving jobs; redundancy; bereavement; divorce; separation and relationship breakdown and; major purchases
1.1.4 Awareness of the ‘red flags’ indicating urgent need and/or vulnerability, and how to identify them: risk of self-harm/safeguarding risk; no food; risk of homelessness; bailiff/sheriff officers and/or enforcement action and; economic and financial abuse
1.1.5 Awareness of Power of Attorney and third party access
1.1.6 Awareness of scams and what to do if a customer has been the subject of a scam
1.2.1 Ask detailed and probing questions, listening carefully to: understand customers’ own awareness of their need and their level of prior understanding; to understand if customers’ circumstances have recently changed or if they are likely to explore options; their pros and cons and whether alternatives might be more suitable (e.g. saving instead of borrowing) to the customers’ circumstances and; identify any additional problems or needs
1.2.2 Ask detailed and specific questions about customers individual circumstances which may include personal data and sensitive information
1.2.3 Help customers to identify their own issues, goals and priorities, including any potential challenges or barriers
1.2.4 Check customers’ understanding of their options, assessing their level of understanding through questioning
1.2.5 Clarify customers’ goals, expectations and, where appropriate, an understanding of the service and its policies
1.2.6 Conduct research: into local, regional and national agencies for signposting and referrals; to identify up to date information concerning the customers’ need or issue; to find out, understand and use evidence and insight that relates to delivering money guidance
1.2.7 Understand how much information should be provided for different types of customers/what type of information is suitable
1.2.8 Understand how to address concerns about fraud or identity theft
1.2.9 Facilitate customers to act on their own behalf, where appropriate with the aim of empowering them to manage their own affairs and change behaviours
Back to top

Training and qualifications

Find out about external training for the knowing your customer domain.

  • Training and qualification list
 Group of people in office meeting

Next step: check my confidence now

When you're clear on the boundaries in giving money guidance, and its breadth and depth, you’re ready to move on. See how confident you are in giving money guidance and get pointers.

Check my confidence
Back to top

LEGAL

  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy notice
  • Cookie policy
  • Money and Pensions Service standards
  • Public information
  • Subject access requests
  • Accessibility statement
  • Cookie preference

OUR BRANDS

  • MoneyHelper Opens in a new window
  • Financial Capability Strategy for the UK Opens in a new window

STAY IN TOUCH

  • Contact us
  • Sign up to newsletter Opens in a new window
  • Twitter Opens in a new window
  • LinkedIn Opens in a new window
  • YouTube Opens in a new window

Copyright 2025 Money & Pensions Service, Bedford Borough Hall, 138 Cauldwell Street, Bedford, MK42 9AB.

All rights reserved.