Revised Consumer Protection Code: what small companies gain

The Central Bank published the revised Code on 24 March 2025 and gave firms a year to prepare. It is made up of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48) (Consumer Protection) Regulations 2025 and new Standards for Business regulations. Both came into operation on 24 March 2026.

The Central Bank highlighted these changes:

• A wider definition of consumer that includes companies with turnover of up to €5 million.
• A move from simply disclosing information to informing customers effectively, in plain language.
• A requirement for regulated firms to clearly distinguish their regulated activities from their unregulated ones, so customers are not misled.
• Customer-focused design for digital services, apps and websites.
• New duties on firms to help customers counter fraud and scams.
• Updated rules for customers in vulnerable circumstances, and simpler complaints handling.

Under the regulations, a consumer includes individuals, partnerships and other unincorporated bodies, and incorporated bodies. An incorporated body is excluded if its annual turnover in the previous financial year was more than €5 million, or if it is part of a group with combined turnover above €5 million. So a limited company with turnover of €4 million that is not part of a larger group is now covered when it deals with a regulated firm.

The Code binds the regulated firm, not your company. If your company borrows from a lender regulated by the Central Bank, that lender must follow the Code in how it designs products, explains terms, handles complaints and treats you if you are in difficulty. That sits alongside the SME Lending Regulations, which already give micro and small enterprises (fewer than 50 staff and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €10 million) specific rights when borrowing from regulated lenders, including written reasons for a refusal and an internal appeal.

In practice, a regulated lender must give your company its terms of business before it first provides a service, stating which authority regulates it. Key information must be given before a product is offered, and full terms and conditions before you sign. Information must be written so that an average customer can reasonably understand it, with technical terms explained and warnings shown prominently.

Not every business finance provider or product is regulated by the Central Bank. Before you sign, ask the provider whether it is regulated for the product you are taking, and check the Central Bank's public register. If it is not regulated, the Code's protections will not apply to that agreement, and you should read the terms with extra care.

Where Welcome Finance fits

Welcome Finance is a commercial finance broker and is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. The Consumer Protection Code does not apply to our service. If a lender we introduce you to is regulated, that lender may owe your company protections under the Code and other Central Bank rules. Our regulatory status page explains our position in full.

1. Check your company's turnover for the last financial year, including any group companies, to see whether you are within the €5 million limit.
2. Ask any lender whether it is regulated by the Central Bank for the product it is offering, and keep the answer in writing.
3. Read the key information document and the full terms before you sign. Ask for anything unclear to be explained in plain language.
4. If a regulated lender refuses your application, ask for the written reasons and consider its appeals process.
5. Use the lender's complaints process first. If that does not resolve it, you may be able to go to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.
6. Compare the total cost of credit, not just the rate. Our guide to business loan costs explains how.

If a bank has turned your company down, our guide to bank refusals and the Credit Review Service sets out the next steps. Our page on why use a broker explains the difference between a regulated lender and an unregulated broker.

We can introduce Irish limited companies to our panel of five specialist non-bank lenders for business loans, including unsecured business loans, working capital and merchant cash advanceA form of finance where a provider advances a lump sum in return for a fixed percentage of the company's future card takings until an agreed total is repaid.. We will tell you what we know about each lender, but you should always confirm a lender's regulatory status for the product yourself. Welcome Finance is a commercial finance broker, not a lender, and is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. We work only with companies registered in Ireland (LTD, DACA type of Irish private company under Part 16 of the Companies Act 2014 that keeps an objects clause in its constitution, limiting what it can do, and uses the suffix DAC., PLCA company type under Part 17 of the Companies Act 2014., ULCA company under Part 19 of the Companies Act 2014 whose members have unlimited liability for its debts.) and are paid commission by lenders. We do not charge your company a fee and never ask for payment upfront.