Introduction
Applypay Pty Ltd (ABN 89 653 499 720) (‘Applypay’,‘we’, ‘our’, ‘us’) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. In relation to processes concerned with applications for and agreements to and related to provisions of finance (including under an Applypay Supplier Agreement, Applypay Finance Application Agreement or an Applypay Finance Agreement respectively), this Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy explains how we manage the personal and sensitive information that we collect, hold, use and disclose and how to contact us if you have any further queries about our management of, or would like to request access to, your personal or sensitive information.
Applypay also complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) Part IIIA and the Credit Reporting Privacy Code which are concerned with credit reporting, insofar as they apply to Applypay in connection with the provision of commercial credit and the management of credit related information. Applypay’s collection of credit related information covered by Part IIIA of the Privacy Act is addressed under the heading “Credit Related Information” below.
Where counterparties to Applypay’s commercial agreements are incorporated entities or otherwise not natural persons, the information which is the subject of this Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy may include information concerning the officers, certain employees or the beneficial owners of those entities.
Types of personal and sensitive information we collect
Personal information is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information is recorded in a material form or not. Sensitive information is a special category of information and includes information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious beliefs, membership of a profession association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or criminal record.
The types of personal information we may collect and hold include:
- a) identifying and contact information (for example, name, address, age, date of birth);
- b) information necessary to comply with “Know Your Client” (KYC) obligations;
- c) your agreement to be a guarantor;
- d) financial information (for example, bank account details and credit card information);
- e) credit bureau information such as any court proceedings information, repayment history information and default information, and personal insolvency information (see further under the heading Credit Related Information below);
- f) information about standing, worthiness, history or capacity to pay which may be disclosed by third parties in accordance with Privacy Act, including credit reports (see further under the heading Credit Related Information below);
- g) information about your activity on the Applypay website. This topic is discussed further under the heading “Statistical information and how we use cookies, log files, social media plugins and other tracking technologies”.
How we collect personal information
Where possible, we will collect personal information directly from you or a person authorised to provide this information on your behalf. This can be through our website. Should we collect your personal information from a third party, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the third party has obtained your consent to provide your personal information to us.
If you do not provide personal information requested of you to us or, withdraw your consent to our collection, holding, use and disclosure of your personal information at any time (subject to contractual and legal restrictions and reasonable notice), we may be unable to provide you with the services you have requested or contact you in the future.
To the extent required by the Privacy Act, we will take reasonable steps to:
- a) make sure that the personal information we collect, use and disclose is accurate, complete and up to date;
- b) protect the personal information that we hold from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure; and
- c) where permitted by law, destroy and permanently de-identify personal information that is no longer needed for any purpose that is permitted by the Privacy Act.
Why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information
We may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal and sensitive information for purposes connected with and including:
- a) providing finance;
- b) to verify your identity and that of authorised persons so that we may comply with regulations, including KYC obligations;
- c) to comply with legal obligations;
- d) to manage our relationship with you;
- e) send you notifications and provide updates on our products and services;
- f) to enforce our rights arising under commercial agreements;
- g) to contact you.
We may also use your personal information for the purposes of our internal administration, research, planning, project development and marketing.
If you do not disclose your personal information, we may be limited in our ability to provide our services to you.
Direct marketing
You give your express and informed consent to us using your personal information where that information is related to the provision of services to you or marketing of products or services that may be of interest to you.
At any time you may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from the Company. To do so, click on the opt out link made available to you within an email, or by contacting our Privacy Officer, whose details are listed below.
Statistical information and how we use cookies, log files, social media plugins and other tracking technologies
When you visit Applypay our server logs information provided by your browser. This information is used to create statistical summaries which permit us to determine what information is most and least used, establish technical design specifications, and help us make our site more useful to visitors. The information logged includes follows:
- a) the date and time of your visit
- b) the address of the referring site
- c) the type of browser you are using
- d) your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc)
- e) your server’s IP address (a number which is unique to the machine through which you are connected to the internet, usually one of your service provider’s machines)
- f) the addresses of any pages accessed and any documents downloaded
Where you do log in to Applypay, this information is used for the same purposes and also to administer the site. Where you log in to Applypay we automatically link this data to personal information of yours that we have previously stored.
Cookies and similar tracking technologies are used by Applypay and providers of technology to Applypay. These technologies are used to administer the site, track users’ movements around the site, gather demographic information about Applypay’s users, analyse trends, and support marketing initiatives.
Applypay uses cookies to remember users’ settings, for the purpose of authentication when you visit our site or use Applypay, to support the functionality of the website and to permit the collection of statistical information. The cookies used include (i) “strictly necessary cookies” which are cookies that are exempt from requiring user consent and which are necessary for the operation of the Applypay website; (ii) “session cookies” which contain encrypted information that allows Applypay to uniquely identify you while you are logged in and which are retained only for the duration of a browser session; (iii) “persistent cookies” which are activated each time you visit our website and are used to maintain your preferences and to identify you, amongst other things, as an Applypay user or a visitor but which are not used to record any sensitive information; and (iv) “analytical cookies” such as those required for Applypay’s use of the Google Analytics service which permit the collection of information about how people access and use Applypay.
You may opt out from the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you do not permit the use of cookies, you may still use the Applypay website, however, the functionality of the website for you may be affected.
We note that other third parties, including Applypay’s service providers, may also use cookies. These cookies may serve similar purposes to those used by Applypay as described above or for the purposes of targeting or advertising. Applypay partners with third-parties that use these cookies and similar technologies to gather information about your use of this and other websites for the purpose of managing both our and other advertising to you on other sites.
Disclosure of Information
We may use other third parties to provide essential services on our website or for other business purposes. Any personal information you provide to us may be disclosed, if appropriate, to:
- a) Applyflow Limited or another of its subsidiary companies;
- b) our and/or Applyflow Limited’s employees and contractors and third parties who provide services on our behalf, such as mail, database, telephone, IT (including cloud storage suppliers), audit, professional advice and research services;
- c) credit reporting bodies including Equifax and Illion to obtain commercial and consumer credit reports containing information about you;
- d) credit providers nominated in any application as providing credit to you;
- e) organisations engaged by us to assist with complying with “know your client” obligations and fraud prevention;
- f) a guarantor or potential guarantor;
- g) Commonwealth, state or territory government agencies to comply with legal obligations;
- h) third party payment service providers;
- i) our and/or Applyflow Limited’s investors and financiers;
- j) credit reporting bodies in relation to a default under an Applypay Finance Agreement;
- k) third parties engaged to assist us to enforce our rights in the event of a default under an Applypay Finance Agreement;
- l) any other third party, including anyone acting on your behalf, to whom you consent to us disclosing your personal information.
From time to time we send personal information to suppliers who are based overseas, such as cloud storage suppliers. The overseas locations of these suppliers include North America, Europe and Asia. Overseas organisations may be required to disclose information in accordance with a foreign law. The Privacy Act 1988 requires us to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that any recipients of your personal information outside of Australia do not breach the privacy principles contained within the Privacy Act 1988.
We may disclose your personal information to the following overseas recipients if necessary:
- a) to other companies or individuals who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (such as third party service providers);
- b) to courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities;
- c) to anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it; and
- d) to anyone else where we are required to do so by law.
We do not share any information with third parties for unknown or unrelated purpsoes. We will only disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was initially collected, other directly related purposes or purposes to which you otherwise consent. Sensitive information generally cannot be used or disclosed without your consent.
We reserve the right to disclose your personal information as required by the law and when we believe it is necessary to protect our rights or comply with judicial proceedings or court orders.
GDPR
In some circumstances, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides additional protection to individuals located in Europe. The fact that you may be located in Europe does not, however, on its own entitle you to protection under the GDPR. We do not specifically target customers located in the European Union and we do not monitor the behavior of individuals in the European Union, and accordingly the GDPR does not apply.
Credit Related Information
When an entity applies to us for credit, chooses to be a guarantor or otherwise seeks finance from Applypay in relation to a commercial agreement with us (Entity), we may obtain a credit report about their officers, certain employees, and beneficial owners from a credit reporting body.
When you act on behalf of an Entity in order to interact with Applypay, the credit related information that is collected may by related to you as one of the Entity’s officers, employees, or beneficial owners.
As set out above, the types of credit related information that Applypay collects in connection with an Entity’s officers, employees, or beneficial owners, are consumer credit reports, personal insolvency information, information concerning court proceeds and other publicly available information concerning.
Where possible, we will collect credit related information directly from the Entity, and they may also provide credit related information relevant to their officers, certain employees and beneficial owners. We may also collect this information from credit reporting bodies or other third parties.
Applypay may not be able to provide its services to you or the Entity if you or the Entity do not provide the credit related information necessary for Applypay to satisfy its KYC obligations, legal obligations and/or internal lending requirements.
Applypay collects, holds, uses and discloses credit related information about individuals are:
- a) to assess whether to provide credit to an Entity, in respect of which an individual may be an officer, employee or beneficial owner;
- b) to assess whether to accept a guarantee offered by an individual of the obligations of an Entity;
- c) for the ongoing management of an account;
- d) to participate in the credit reporting system; and
- e) to undertake debt recovery and enforcement activities.
We may give your credit related information to the credit reporting bodies, illion Australia or Equifax Australia, to obtain consumer credit reports or to report if you fail to meet your payment obligations.
You have the right to make a request to illion Australia or Equifax Australia not to use or disclose your credit reporting information:
- a) for the purposes of pre-screening or direct marketing by a credit provider; or
- b) if you believe on reasonable grounds that you have been, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud.
You may access a copy of illion Australia’s and Equifax Australia’s respective policies about the management of credit information via the following contact information:
telephone: 13 8332
email: [email protected]
www.equifax.com.au
illion Australia
telephone: 13 23 33
email: [email protected]
www.illion.com.au
Storage and Retention of Your Information
Your personal and credit related information will be stored on our electronic database and on computers with appropriate back-up and security. Where we collect personal or credit related information via the Applypay website, it is held on our own computer systems or on the computer systems of our third party partners subject to reasonable protections, including physical, technical (including firewalls and encryption) and/or procedural methods.
Applypay is committed to keeping personal and credit related information secure and we take reasonable precautions to protect your personally identifiable information from loss, misuse, interference, unauthorised access or alteration. We do this through confidentiality arrangements with employees and contractors, the use of security measures to govern access to our electronic systems, and implementing website protection measures.
Where Applypay is obliged to retain information for the purpose of complying with obligations arising under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), Applypay will retain that information for seven years after Applypay has ceased to provide a designated service. Where the period for which Applypay is obliged to retain information exceeds the time maximum time period permitted under the Privacy Act it will retain that information for the sole purposes of satisfying its statutory obligations.
Accessing Your Information
If you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your personal, sensitive or credit related information, or would like to request a copy of the personal or credit related information we hold about you, please contact:
The Privacy Officer
Applypay Pty Ltd
Email: [email protected]
We will generally provide you with access to your personal or credit related information if practicable and, will take reasonable steps to amend any of your personal or credit related information which is inaccurate or out of date. If you seek access to your information we will require you to verify your identity and to specify what information you require. We will not charge you for making the request to correct your information, correcting the information or providing a statement.
Amendments
This Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy is effective from 18 October 2021.
The Privacy and Credit Reporting Policy may be updated from time to time. To obtain a copy of the latest version at any time, visit our website at www.applypay.co/privacy.
Complaints
If you consider a breach of the applicable privacy laws or your rights in relation to privacy has occurred, you may contact us and we will attempt to resolve your complaint.
If you do not consider our response satisfactory, you may contact the Australian Privacy Commissioner at its website www.oaic.gov.au or by telephone on 1300 363 992.