Privacy policy

1. Overview

The Finance Club Au Pty Ltd (ABN 83 703 443 887), trading as The Finance Club (“we”, “us”, “our”), is committed to protecting your privacy in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and, where it applies, the credit reporting provisions of the Privacy Act and the Credit Reporting Code. We are an Authorised Credit Representative (CRN 582200) of AFAS Group Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 414426. This policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use and disclose it, and your rights.

2. Information we collect

When you enquire through our website, partner websites, in-store tablets or by phone, or when we help you apply for finance, we may collect your name, contact details, date of birth, identification, employment and income, assets and liabilities, expenses, credit history, and details of the asset or loan you are interested in. We collect most information directly from you. With your consent, we may also collect information from lenders, credit reporting bodies, your employer, accountant or other people you authorise, and from businesses that referred you to us.

3. How we use your information

• For asset finance: to understand your requirements and financial situation, assess which finance is not unsuitable for you, compare options from lenders on our panel, and prepare and submit applications on your behalf
• For home loans, commercial property and other finance we don’t arrange: to pass your enquiry, with your consent, to a licensed partner broker who specialises in that finance
• To verify your identity and the information you give us
• To communicate with you about your enquiry, application or loan
• To meet our legal obligations, including under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) and anti-money laundering laws, and our obligations to our licensee

4. Who we disclose it to

Depending on your enquiry, we may disclose your personal information to:

• lenders and their service providers, mortgage insurers and valuers, to assess and process your application
• our licensee, AFAS Group Pty Ltd, and its compliance and auditing providers
• a licensed partner broker, when we refer you for finance we don’t arrange ourselves (they handle it under their own privacy policy)
• the business that referred you to us, limited to the status of your enquiry where you have agreed to this
• service providers who help us run our business, such as our CRM, website, email and hosting providers, who must keep it secure
• anyone you authorise, or where the law requires or allows it

Some of our service providers may store information outside Australia. We take reasonable steps to make sure they protect it. We don’t sell your personal information.

5. Credit reporting

We don’t obtain your credit report without your consent. When you apply for finance, the lender will usually obtain your credit report from a credit reporting body and may share information about your application and loan with credit reporting bodies, as set out in the lender’s privacy and credit reporting policy.

6. Keeping your information secure

We store information electronically with access limited to people who need it, and we destroy or de-identify it when it is no longer needed and we are not required to keep it.

7. Access and correction

You can ask to access or correct the personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us at info@thefinanceclub.com.au. We will respond within a reasonable time, usually 30 days.

8. Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first. We will acknowledge it within one business day and aim to resolve it within 30 days. If you are not satisfied, you can contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA, member ID 125951) at www.afca.org.au or 1800 931 678, or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

9. Contact us