Privacy policy
In this Privacy Policy, the terms we, us and our refer to our business and our aggregator, Australian Finance Group Ltd ABN 11 066 385 822 (AFG), Australian Credit Licence 389087, and its related companies.
Our commitment to protect your privacy
We understand how important it is to keep your personal information private. This policy explains our commitment to handling your personal information and how we manage and use that information. It also covers how we deal with credit reports and credit-related information.
Throughout your relationship with us, you may receive additional information about how we use your personal information, such as in application forms or other documents. Please read all such information carefully.
We know that any personal information we collect about you must only be used for the purposes we collected it for, or as permitted by law. We want you to feel confident that your personal information is handled safely and respectfully.
We are committed to following the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988, the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code 2014, and any other applicable laws relating to privacy and data protection.
Personal Information
When we refer to personal information, we mean information that can identify you or can reasonably be used to identify you. This may include information or opinions about you.
We may collect details such as your name, date of birth, home and email addresses, phone number, account information, job details, and transaction history. We may also collect other information needed to identify you.
If you are applying for finance, we may ask for information about the number and age of your dependants and household members, how long you have lived at your current address, your employment history, your income and expenses, and your tax file number or tax residency status.Some of the personal information we collect, store, and use may be credit-related information.
Credit- related information
Credit-related information includes personal details or opinions about you that relate to credit you have or have applied for. This may include your identity, the type and terms of credit provided to you, when the credit was given and repaid, your repayment history, any missed or late payments, payment arrangements, information about financial hardship, any serious credit infringements, court-related information, insolvency details, and publicly available records.
Credit eligibility information refers to information we receive from credit reporting bodies, along with any insights we derive from that information.
We use credit-related information to determine whether you are eligible for finance. Credit-related information is generally exchanged between credit providers, finance companies, and credit reporting bodies.
If you wish to make purchases through us, or if we need to make payments to you, we may also collect your payment details. If you apply for a job with us, we may collect details about your work history and seek feedback from your referees.
Why we collect your personal information
We collect your personal and credit-related information to operate our business, which includes assessing your finance application, managing your finance, verifying your identity, communicating with you, managing risk, and meeting our legal responsibilities. We may also collect information to send you marketing material and manage our business relationship with you.
With the help of new technology, we can gain a more complete view of our customers and improve how we serve you. From time to time, we may offer you additional products and services.
If you apply to become a finance broker with us or apply for employment, we will collect information to assess your application and manage our relationship with you, including offering other relevant services.
How do we collect your personal information ?
Where it is reasonable and practical, we will collect your personal information directly from you. We may also gather information from public sources such as registers and social media, or from third parties. These may include credit reporting bodies, brokers, your employer, and professionals such as accountants, lawyers, and referees.
Do we disclose your personal information
We may share your personal information with existing or potential funders or intermediaries who help meet your finance needs. We may also share it with other guarantors, borrowers, and security providers involved in the finance process.
Your information may be provided to valuers, surveyors, suppliers, printing and mailing companies, call centres, mortgage insurers, trade insurers, collections firms, lawyers, and credit reporting bodies. It may also be shared with contractors, service providers, and technology support teams who assist with our operations.
Businesses we work with may also receive your information if they wish to offer you products or services. We may share information with companies that manage our information and infrastructure systems. We may share your data with people you authorise to represent you, such as brokers, legal guardians, power of attorney holders, and accountants.
We may disclose your information where required by law, including under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006, or if requested under a court order or subpoena.
We may also share your information with organisations involved in funding arrangements, such as trustees, warehouse funders, investors, rating agencies, auditors, and advisers, or any parties with an interest in your finance.
Before disclosing your information to another person or company, we take reasonable steps to ensure they are committed to protecting your personal information to the same standard as we are, or that you have agreed to the disclosure.
We use cloud storage to store your personal information. These systems and servers may be located outside Australia.
We may share your information with overseas service providers who help us run our business. These providers may be located in countries including the United States, Canada, Malaysia, India, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. You can contact us to find out more about these overseas providers.
We also use new technology and data analytics tools to combine data from various sources, including other customers, public websites, and organisations such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This helps us learn more about how our customers use our services and how we can improve them. If we share insights with other businesses, we will not include your personal information unless required by law.
Notifiable matters
Under the law, we must tell you how we may use your credit-related information. You may request these notifiable matters, along with a copy of this policy, in another format.
We share your credit-related information with credit reporting bodies to verify your identity, assess your creditworthiness, process your finance application, and manage your loan or credit account.
Credit reporting bodies may use our information and combine it with data from other providers to help those providers assess your creditworthiness.
We may share your identification details, loan types, amounts borrowed, repayment history, and any defaults or serious infringements with credit reporting bodies.
If you miss repayments or commit a serious credit issue, we may report this to the relevant credit agency.
You can request access to the credit-related information we hold about you and ask us to correct it if it’s inaccurate. Details about this are explained below under ‘Access and correction to your personal and credit information.’
You may also ask a credit reporting body not to use your credit-related information for pre-screening credit offers. If you believe you have been the victim of fraud, you can ask a credit reporting body to put a temporary hold on using or disclosing your information for 21 days.
You can contact the following agencies for more information:
- equifax.com.au
- illion.com.au
- experian.com.au
Notifiable data breaches
The Privacy Act includes a Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme. If we experience a data breach that is likely to cause serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as soon as possible and provide advice on how to reduce any potential impact.
If we can take action quickly to prevent harm, we may not be required to notify you, but we will always act to protect your data.
If you suspect your personal information has been involved in a data breach, please contact us immediately.
Direct marketing
From time to time, we may use your personal details to inform you about financial offers that may be of interest, updates within our organisation, or new products and services offered by us or affiliated companies.
If you prefer not to receive such marketing material, you can opt out at any time by sending us an email. If the communication is via email, you can also use the unsubscribe link provided. There is no charge for opting out, and we will make every reasonable effort to action your request promptly.
Keeping Your Personal Information Up to Date
Ensuring that your personal details—such as your current address, phone number, and email—are accurate and current is important to us. During our relationship, we may ask you to notify us of any updates to your information.
Should you need to update any of your personal details, you are welcome to contact us. In general, we rely on you to keep your information accurate and complete.
Accessing and Correcting Your Personal and Credit Information
You have the right to access the personal and credit-related information we hold about you. You may request this information at any time.
We may charge a fee to cover the cost of retrieving and providing this information. Depending on your request, we may respond immediately or within 30 days. We may also need to consult other parties to address your request properly.
There are some circumstances in which we may not be required to provide access, such as when the information is commercially sensitive, related to current or anticipated legal proceedings, or the request is considered unreasonable or repetitive.
If we refuse access, we will explain the reasons.
If any personal or credit-related information we hold is inaccurate, out of date, or incorrect, you may request that we amend it. If we agree, we will update it accordingly. Otherwise, we will respond within seven days, and if necessary, provide the outcome of our review within 30 days. In some cases, we may need to consult third parties to complete our review.
If we decide not to make a correction, we will inform you of the reason.
Use of Government Identifiers
If we collect government-issued identifiers, such as your tax file number, we will only use or disclose them when legally required. These identifiers will never be used by us to identify you.
Doing business without identification
In most cases, we need to verify your identity to conduct business. However, when lawful and practical, we will give you the option to interact with us anonymously—such as when you make general inquiries about products or interest rates
Sensitive information
We will only collect sensitive information with your explicit consent. This includes details such as racial or ethnic origin, political beliefs, membership in associations or unions, sexual orientation, criminal history, health status, or biometric data (like fingerprints).
Security of your personal information
We are committed to safeguarding your personal information. It is stored in secure systems, either electronically or in paper form. We take reasonable steps to protect this data from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, changes, or disclosure.
Complaint
If you’re not satisfied with how we handle your personal or credit-related information, or believe we have breached the Privacy Act or Credit Reporting Code, you can contact us directly. We’ll acknowledge your complaint within seven days and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If more time is needed, we’ll inform you of the expected timeline.
If you’re not happy with our response, you can escalate your complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) at 1800 931 678, via email at info@afca.org.au or by mail to GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001. Alternatively, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) at www.oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 363 992.
Cookies
The information we gather from your online interactions with our website depends on what activities you perform. When you browse our website, we collect general data that does not identify you. This may include visitor counts, pages viewed, and navigation paths, which helps us assess and improve the performance of the site.
We compile this into aggregated, anonymous reports to understand how users engage with the site. This includes which pages are visited most, whether communications are opened, which ads are viewed or clicked, and if any errors occur. This information enhances your browsing experience, informs future improvements, and may be used to personalise content.
We do not collect personally identifiable information unless you have an account with us—then the data collected through cookies may be linked to that account.
We may also permit third-party advertisers to place cookies via their ads on our website. These cookies help determine which ads to show, how frequently they appear, and where they perform best. These third-party cookies do not collect information that personally identifies you.
Some of this data is collected via code embedded in our web pages, which cannot be disabled.
Other cookie information, such as browser type, helps our servers interact efficiently with your device. Cookies are intended to enhance your experience and simplify your use of the website.
You can adjust your browser settings to accept all, some, or no cookies. The help function of your browser will explain how to make these changes. Please note that rejecting cookies may impact the functionality of our website.
Further information
You may request further information about the way we manage your personal or credit information by contacting us.
Change in our privacy policy
Change in our privacy policy
We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations. Technology is constantly changing, as is the law and market place practices.
As a consequence, we may change this privacy policy from time to time or as the need arises. You may request this privacy policy in an alternative form.