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 guide for retailers covers the detail — including the 2026 buy-now-pay-later rules — and our step-by-step guide walks through the full process; 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.
We file it and handle the FCA
We submit your application through the FCA’s Connect portal and deal with the caseworker’s questions until your decision. You just review and sign the declarations.
Everything the FCA asks a retailer for, prepared for you
A complete limited permission application pack — sixteen tailored documents, the same set 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 — just £495 to start, fully refundable before delivery. Most consultancies won't publish a price at all. 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 deposit, so your application gets 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 £560 application fee — which we collect with your final payment and pay to the FCA on your behalf, so there's nothing extra to arrange.
Already know you need it? Skip the check and start →
*The FCA application fee is collected with your final payment and paid to the FCA on your firm's behalf when we submit — itemised on your invoice. 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.
Find out in 60 seconds → Message us on WhatsApp