Do retailers need FCA authorisation?
Yes. If you offer customers finance to buy your products — an interest-free "buy now, pay later" option, a store payment plan, or introducing them to a finance provider at the till — you're carrying out credit broking, a regulated activity. It's been required since 2014, and offering finance without authorisation is a criminal offence that can also make agreements unenforceable.
The good news: because selling goods is your main business and finance simply helps customers pay, you almost certainly qualify for limited permission — the simpler, cheaper route. Our step-by-step guide to getting authorised covers the detail; if you already know you need it, we'll prepare the pack.
Three steps to authorised
No jargon, no lengthy consultations, no hourly fees. A clear process built around how busy business owners actually work.
Complete the questionnaire
Tell us about your store and how you offer finance in around 15 minutes — what you sell, which finance providers you work with, and who's responsible. Plain questions, no jargon.
We prepare your pack
We prepare every document the FCA expects for a retailer's limited permission application — secondary credit broking for point-of-sale and online finance — tailored to your business.
Submit and get authorised
You receive the complete pack with step-by-step guidance for the FCA Connect portal. We're on hand for any caseworker follow-up questions.
Everything the FCA asks a retailer for, prepared for you
A complete limited permission application pack — the same documents a consultancy charges thousands to assemble.
- ✓Regulatory business plan — tailored to your business and finance activities
- ✓Compliance monitoring programme for your first year
- ✓Financial promotions policy covering how you advertise finance
- ✓Complaints handling procedure
- ✓Vulnerable customer policy
- ✓Anti-money laundering & financial crime policy
- ✓Financial forecasts built from your figures
- ✓FCA Connect application guidance — step by step
The right permissions for a retailer
A retailer offering finance typically needs limited permission for secondary credit broking — introducing customers to a lender to help them buy your goods, in store or online. We build your pack around exactly that.
If finance becomes a main activity in its own right, or you lend your own money, you may need full permission — and we'll tell you honestly before you pay a penny.
Built for your business, priced up front
Three reasons businesses come to us instead of a traditional compliance consultancy.
One fixed price
£995, published up front. Most consultancies won't even quote without a call. No hourly fees, no surprises — and the FCA's own fee is the same wherever you go.
Ready in days, not months
Your complete pack is prepared within three working days of your questionnaire, so you can get your application in front of the FCA quickly.
Own your authorisation
We prepare a direct application, so you hold your own FCA permission and choose your own finance partners — not tied to one principal's panel or paying an ongoing network fee.
One price. No hourly fees. No surprises.
You pay one fixed fee for your complete application pack. The only other cost is the FCA's own application fee, which you pay directly to them — the same fee wherever you go.
*The FCA application fee is paid directly to the FCA when you submit. It is the same fee whichever provider you use.
Retailer FCA questions, answered
Ready to get your shop authorised?
Fixed price. No hidden fees. Your complete FCA limited permission application pack, prepared for a retailer offering finance.
Get your licence →