FCA Targeted Support to roll out from April 2026

The Government is working with the Financial Conduct Authority to roll out Targeted Support for consumers from April 2026, according to a Treasury Committee special report published on 14 January 2026¹. The measure was set out in a letter from Lucy Rigby MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, dated 18 December 2025, responding to the committee's report on Cash Individual Savings Accounts published on 25 October 2025¹.

Targeted Support will enable authorised firms to proactively suggest appropriate products or courses of action using limited information about a customer and their circumstances¹. The Government said this could include supporting people with excess cash savings to consider investing for the first time, such as through opening a stocks and shares ISA¹. The FCA has described the reforms as "once-in-a-generation"². The new rules should come into effect in April 2026².

Recommendations will not be based on a full, in-depth individual assessment². The FCA has outlined examples of how the regime could be used²:

Firms will need to make sure the recommendations are suitable, and should only be offered when it puts consumers in a better position². Firms which can show they are ready, willing and organised to undertake targeted support will be authorised swiftly after the provisional go-live date in April 2026². The FCA has also told companies to overhaul the way they disclose information to customers², and has launched a new firm checker tool to help consumers avoid scams².

The FCA's Sarah Pritchard, deputy chief executive, said:

The FCA says its Consumer Duty rules require firms to monitor whether their actions cause harm and take steps to address this, including through compensation where appropriate². Which? reported that experts had warned targeted support might steer customers towards products that are not the best option for them, especially if firms focus on promoting their own offerings, and raised concerns about whether people would have the same protections as with full financial advice if things went wrong².

The Government said it wants to see more people benefit from the higher returns and long-term financial resilience that investing can provide¹. The FCA's latest Financial Lives survey found that just 9% of adults received financial advice about their pensions or investments in the previous 12 months². One in five surveyed in The Lang Cat Advice Gap 2024 report said financial advice would need to cost less for them to consider paying for it². The average cost of advice over five years for an investment worth £250,000 is £13,375 in Wales, £15,995 in the North of England and Scotland, and £16,250 in the rest of England, according to VouchedFor². Commission payments were banned in 2012, meaning advisers now rely on client fees².

Why it matters for households

From April 2026, people dealing with firms that adopt Targeted Support may receive suggestions about their pensions, investments or cash savings without paying for full financial advice¹. The suggestions are based on limited information and groups of consumers with common characteristics, not a full individual assessment¹. The Government's example is people holding excess cash savings being supported to consider investing for the first time, such as through a stocks and shares ISA¹. Separately, the Government will allow Long Term Asset Funds to be held in Stocks & Shares ISAs from April 2026¹.

The report also confirms other dates affecting savers' money. At Autumn Budget 2025, the Government announced that the annual ISA allowance will be kept at £20,000, with the Cash ISA limit set at £12,000 from April 2027 for under-65s¹. Savers over the age of 65 will continue to be able to save up to £20,000 in a Cash ISA each year¹. The Government also confirmed its long-term commitment to Help to Save by making the scheme permanently available for new savers and expanding it from April 2028 to all households receiving the child or carer's element of Universal Credit¹. On the Personal Savings Allowance, the Government said reductions would bring many people into paying tax on small amounts of savings income, requiring them to complete Self-Assessment forms and creating disproportionate additional costs for HMRC¹.

What happens next

The provisional go-live date for Targeted Support is April 2026, with firms judged ready authorised swiftly after that point². The Cash ISA limit of £12,000 for under-65s takes effect from April 2027, and the Help to Save expansion from April 2028¹. The Department for Education plans to reform the programmes of study for maths and citizenship, ensuring key concepts relevant to financial education such as calculating interest are introduced, and making citizenship compulsory in key stages 1 and 2¹.