Privacy policy

Our Privacy Policy outlines how we collect and hold your personal information and in what circumstances we may disclose that information to third parties. If you have any questions about this policy or about the use of your data, please feel free to contact us.

RateSetter Australia RE Limited

ABN 57 166 646 635 Australian financial services licence/Australian credit licence 449176 

RateSetter Australia Pty Limited

ABN 29 161 376 638 

Australian Executor Trustees Limited

ABN 84 007 869 794 Australian financial services licence/Australian credit licence 240023

Privacy policy

We, RateSetter Australia RE Limited ABN 57 166 646 635, RateSetter Australia Pty Limited ABN 29 161 376 638 and Australian Executor Trustees Limited ABN 84 007 869 794 (as custodian of the RateSetter Lending Platform (Custodian)), collect, use and handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), and specifically the Australian Privacy Principles.

This Privacy Policy sets out our policy for the collection, use, disclosure and storage of your personal information, and information relating to your business (where relevant), including your credit-related information.

Use of the terms ‘you’ or ‘your’ in this policy means both you as an individual, and where you interact with us as a representative of a business, that business.

We may, from time to time, amend and update this policy.

What is personal information and credit-related information?

Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

Personal information may include sensitive information, which includes, for example, information about an individual's health, religion and any criminal convictions they may have.

Credit-related information is a variety of personal information that includes information about your credit history or creditworthiness. It includes:

• information about your loan experience with us and other lenders;
• the kinds of credit products you have had or sought;
• how you have managed your obligations, including such things as your repayment history, arrears you have cleared;
• information contained in a credit report about you which is obtained by us from a credit reporting body (CRB); and
• information about your creditworthiness that has been derived by us from such a credit report about you.

Why do we collect information and who do we collect such information from?

We collect information about you for a range of purposes, including because we are required to identify you in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) or learn about and verify your financial situation in accordance with the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) for the purposes of considering and assessing an application for credit, and subsequently managing any credit facility we may provide to you.

Personal information collected by us is collected primarily for the purpose of considering an application for credit and managing any credit facility subsequently provided.

RateSetter Australia Pty Limited may, on your behalf, collect information held about you for the purposes of helping you obtain a quote for credit from a credit provider (for example, when RateSetter Australia Pty Limited helps you obtain a quote for credit from the Custodian).

If you apply for credit, we may collect information about you from third parties (for example, any person who referred you to us, from your employer, service providers, agents, advisers or brokers). We may also collect credit-related information about you from other lenders and CRBs.

We also collect information about your interactions with us (for example, transaction history). We may also use third parties to analyse traffic on our website, which may involve the use of cookies.

If you do not provide some or all of the information which we request, we may not be able to provide credit (or any other product or service) to you.

The Privacy Act protects your sensitive information, such as health information which may be collected on hardship applications. If we need to obtain this information, we will ask for your consent.

How do we use your information?

We use and exchange your information so that we can seek access to credit information held by a credit reporting body on your behalf, provide you with credit (and associated services) and to manage our relationship with you, including to:

• identify you and verify your identity;
• verify that your information is correct;
• assess, complete and process your application for credit;
• establish, provide and administer your credit facility;
• comply with legislative or regulatory requirements;
• corresponding with you and contractors in relation to your credit facility;
• undertake internal processes, including product development, risk management and pricing;
• carry out your instructions, or assist with your inquiries;
• collect overdue payments;
• do anything we are required or authorised by law to do; and
• identify and (unless you tell us not to) tell you about our products and services, and those of third parties, that might interest you.

Generally, we will not use or exchange your information for any purpose other than one that is set out in this Privacy Policy, or for a purpose which is disclosed to you and to which you have consented.

Who do we exchange your information with?

We may exchange your information for any of the reasons mentioned above with third parties.

Third parties include:

• other persons (for example, your referee or employers) to verify that information you provide is correct;
• any person with whom you make a joint application for credit;
• any person who referred you, or your application for credit, to us;
• our external service providers and contractors (such as any mail house, commercial agent or entities that help us to verify your identity or identify illegal activities and prevent fraud);
• our related entities, assignees, agents and external advisers;
• law enforcement, regulatory, government and dispute resolution bodies;
• any person we consider necessary to execute your instructions;
• any financial institution to or from which a payment is made in relation to any account you have or operate;
• other credit providers and financial institutions;
• CRBs;
• debt collection agencies;
• anyone who obtains an interest in a credit facility we provide to you or is considering doing so, and their advisers; and
• organisations involved in a transfer or sale of our assets or business.

Which CRBs do we exchange credit-information with?

We may obtain a credit report about you from a CRB. A credit report will provide us with information about you that is held by the CRB and which has any bearing on your consumer and commercial creditworthiness. RateSetter Australia Pty Limited may (if you authorise it to) obtain this information on your behalf, for the purposes of helping you obtain a quote for credit from a credit provider (including the Custodian) and the Custodian may obtain this information in its capacity as a credit provider.

We may use this information to confirm your identity, assess an application for credit (including arriving at our own assessment of your creditworthiness), manage our relationship with you and collect overdue payments.

The CRBs we use are:

• Veda Advantage Ltd, whose privacy policy and contact details are set out at www.veda.com.au
• Dun & Bradstreet (Australia) Pty Ltd, whose privacy policy and contact details are set out at  www.dnb.com.au

You can ask a CRB not to use or disclose credit information it holds about you for a period of 21 days (called a "ban period") without your consent if you believe on reasonable grounds that you have been or are likely to be a victim of fraud, including identity fraud. When you apply for credit, you are taken to agree to us accessing your personal information (including credit-related information) held with a CRB, even if there is a ban period in place, for the purposes of assessing an application for credit or in order to collect overdue payments.

CRBs may use credit information they hold to respond to requests from us or other credit providers to "pre-screen" you for direct marketing. You can ask a CRB not to do this. However, if you are a borrower you may still receive direct marketing from us (unless you ask us not to) that has not been "pre-screened".

How do we store information collected?

We keep hard copy and electronic records on our premises and systems or offsite using trusted third parties. We ensure personal information we hold on you is secure at all times, including ensuring that it is protected from misuse, interference and loss, unauthorised access, disclosure and modification.

Your information is only accessible by you and those authorised to access it. Employees and third parties who deal with your information are bound by confidentiality obligations and are required to complete training about information security and privacy.

When we no longer need your information, including when we are no longer legally obliged to keep records relating to you, we will destroy it or de-identify it.

Do we disclose your information to overseas recipients?

We disclose your information to our related companies located in the United Kingdom and to our service providers located in the United States of America.

How can you access, amend and correct your information?

We take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information we may collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date. You have rights to access your information and correct it if it is inaccurate, out-of-date or incomplete.

You may request access to the information we hold about you at any time by contacting us. We will respond to your request within a reasonable time. There is no fee for making a request but we may charge you the reasonable costs of providing our response to a request for access to personal information.

If we refuse to give you access to any of your personal information, we will provide you with reasons for the refusal and the relevant provisions of the Privacy Act on which we rely to refuse access.

You may also ask us to correct any information we hold about you by contacting us. We encourage you to advise us as soon as there is a change to your contact details, such as your phone number or address. We will deal with your request to correct your information in a reasonable time. If we correct your information and it is information we have provided to others, we will notify them of the correction where we are required to do so by the Privacy Act. If your request to correct your information relates to information which has been provided to us by a CRB or another credit provider we may need to consult with them about your request. We will correct information, where we decide to do so, within 30 days of your request, or longer if you agree.

If we do not agree with the corrections you have requested, we are not obliged to amend your information accordingly, however, we will give you a written notice which sets out the reasons for our refusal.

There are various ways you can contact us to alert us to changes to vital personal information (such as residential address, home phone, etc). Our contact details are shown below. Your pro-active approach ensures information we hold on you remains accurate and up-to-date. You can also request access to this information which we must grant except in limited circumstances.

Direct marketing and your information

We may use your information to advertise or promote products, services, or business or investment opportunities we think may interest you, including by email or telephone. We may also provide your information to other organisations for specific marketing purposes. However, we will not do so where you tell us not to.

You can ask us not to contact you about products and services and not to disclose your information to others for that purpose by calling us on 1300 768 710.

Questions and complaints

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us by emailing us at contact@ratesetter.com.au or calling us on 1300 768 710.

Additionally, if you believe that in handling your personal information we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, Part IIIA of the Privacy Act or the Credit Reporting Privacy Code and you would like to make a complaint, you may use these same contact details noted above to lodge a complaint.

Once we receive your complaint, we will respond to you as soon as possible and will let you know if we need any further information from you. We will notify you of our decision within 30 days, however if we are unable to do so, we will let you know the reason for the delay and the expected timeframe to resolve the complaint.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, or the way in which we have handled your complaint, you may contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, our external dispute resolution scheme, or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The contact details of these entities are as follows:

Financial Ombudsman Service

GPO Box 3

MELBOURNE VIC 3001

1800 780 808

www.fos.org.au

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

GPO Box 5218

SYDNEY NSW 2001

1300 363 992

www.oaic.gov.au

Either of these entities may forward your complaint to another external dispute resolution body if they consider that the complaint would be better handled by that other body.