Privacy Policy
Advance Notice of Changes
May 3, 2017
In accordance with the terms of our Privacy Policy, we are providing advance notice of changes to the policy. These upcoming revisions and clarifications are intended to reflect changes in the operations of our business and to increase transparency and clarity surrounding our collection and use of information. Changes include or address:
- Updated disclosures surrounding our collection of device-specific information;
- Collection of information from representatives acting on behalf of borrowers;
- Providing additional clarity concerning how and why we use collected information, including to make enhancements to our website and services and to service our loans; and
- Reporting of loan performance data to business credit bureaus.
We are continually seeking to improve our services; please contact us with any questions and concerns about our new Policy. Our contact information is provided at the bottom of this page.
Funding Circle Privacy Policy
This privacy policy (“Privacy Policy”) governs the collection, storage, and use of personal information collected by us, Funding Circle USA, Inc. (“Funding Circle,” “we,” or “us”), via our website at www.fundingcircle.com and any subdomain thereof. It provides you with details about the personal information we collect from you, how we use your personal information, and your rights to control personal information we hold about you.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By accessing and continuing to use this website, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to this Privacy Policy and any subsequently modified Privacy Policy in its entirety. You understand and acknowledge that we reserve the right to change or amend this Privacy Policy from time to time.
If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy in its entirety, you must not use this website or the services provided on it.
This Privacy Policy has been updated effective January 13, 2016. Please check this webpage regularly to keep informed of updates to this Privacy Policy.
1. Who we are
Funding Circle is a company incorporated in Delaware and has its principal place of business at 747 Front Street, Floor 4, San Francisco, California 94111. FC Marketplace LLC, the originator of loans and an affiliate of Funding Circle, has a California Finance Lenders License (No. 6054785).
Funding Circle respects your right to privacy and will only process personal information you provide to us in accordance with applicable privacy laws. In particular, we are committed to keeping your personal information confidential and will only give it to others for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
2. What information do we collect from you?
Funding Circle collects personal information supplied by you during the investor or borrower application process. This information includes, but is not limited to:
| Borrowers | Investors |
|---|---|
| Name and your business name | Name |
| Mailing address | Mailing address |
| Business address | |
| Phone and e-mail details | Phone and e-mail details |
| Bank account information | Bank account information |
| Date of birth | Date of birth |
| Social security number | Social security number |
| Income, assets, debt, and other personal and business data | Income, assets, debt, and other financial data |
| Comments you make on blogs and discussion forums on the website | Comments you make on blogs and discussion forums on the website |
| Correspondence with us by email and post | Correspondence with us by email and post |
In addition to collecting personal information supplied by you during your application process, Funding Circle uses non-affiliated third parties to gather borrower’s data from financial institutions. By using Funding Circle’s application process, you grant our non-affiliated third-party providers the right, power, and authority to act on your behalf to access and transmit your personal and financial information from the relevant financial institution according to terms of the third-party provider’s privacy policy. Funding Circle does not have access to and does not store the usernames and passwords you use to access your financial institution(s).
Funding Circle collects this personal information from you in order to
- determine the borrower’s eligibility for a loan and the investor’s suitability as an investor;
- obtain, upon your authorization, a credit report, references, and other information from credit bureaus or other third parties in connection with your loan application;
- verify your identity;
- detect and guard against potential fraud;
- manage your Funding Circle account and update the records we hold about you;
- create a marketplace loan listing on the Funding Circle website, which includes a Funding Circle credit grade based on your credit history and financial circumstances;
- process your payments and other transactions;
- develop and improve our website, products, and services;
- enforce our agreements;
- carry out statistical analysis and market research and testing;
- carry out regulatory checks;
- comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
- make this website available to you and identify products and services which you may be interested in; and
- send periodic emails.
3. How and when is borrower information shared with other parties?
Borrower information collected by or provided to us may be shared with other parties in the following manner:
- To our affiliates.
- To a third party if it acquires all (or substantially all) of our business and/or assets in connection with the acquisition.
- When required by applicable law.
- To display a loan listing on the Funding Circle website.
- To display information about a borrower to an investor if the investor successfully funds the borrower through the Funding Circle website.
- To third parties who may be in a position to arrange credit for you if we are unable to provide you with credit, but only after we receive your consent.
- Information about borrowers may be shared with the borrower’s franchisor (as applicable).
- Information about borrowers may be shared with prospective investors and business partners who are required by contract with us to adhere to our privacy policy and to implement safeguards for protecting information about borrowers.
- Information about borrowers may be shared with non-affiliated third parties (“Trusted Partners”) who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, marketing our products, or servicing you, so long as the Trusted Partners contractually agree to keep this information confidential.
- Information about borrowers may be shared with credit bureaus consumer reporting agencies, collecting agencies and fraud prevention agencies in order to perform checks, trace your whereabouts, or recover debts you owe.
We may also release your information to law enforcement or other government agencies as required by law such as to comply with a subpoena, bankruptcy proceedings, or similar legal process or for the purposes of limiting fraud. In addition, we reserve the right to disclose your information when we believe release is necessary to enforce our site policies or any loan agreement, protect ours or others’ rights, property, or safety, and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process.
We may continue to share your information as described in this notice after your customer relationship with us has ended. However, you retain all the rights listed in this Privacy Notice on an ongoing basis, regardless of your status as a current or previous customer.
Funding Circle will only share a borrower’s information with non-affiliated third parties as described in this Privacy Policy.
Notwithstanding anything else in the Privacy Policy, we may share aggregate information about borrowers with third parties for marketing, advertising, research, or other business purposes.
4. What will be displayed on the borrower’s loan listing on the Funding Circle website?
When a borrower is approved for a Funding Circle loan, we will display certain information on the marketplace loan listing on the Funding Circle website. The loan listing will disclose information and data necessary for investors to evaluate a borrower’s loan request. On the loan listing, qualified Funding Circle investors will see: (1) business information; (2) business financials; (3) loan terms; and (4) loan information, which is derived from the borrower’s credit report or otherwise collected from the borrower or third parties during the loan application process. The information and data displayed on the Funding Circle website includes, but is not limited to the following:
| Business Information | Loan Information |
|---|---|
| Business Name | Business Bankruptcy |
| “Friendly” Listing Name | Date of Business Bankruptcy |
| Years of Operation | Debt Coverage Ratio |
| Industry | Asset Coverage Ratio |
| NAICS Code | Number of Guarantors |
| Business Location–City & State | Credit Score of Guarantor |
| Business activity | Part of Franchise Network |
| State of Incorporation | Prior Loan(s) with FC |
| Number of Employees | Amortization Table |
| Business Financials | Loan Terms |
|---|---|
| Income Statement | Loan Principal Amount |
| Balance Sheet | Interest Rate |
| Term | |
| FC Credit Rating |
5. Do we sell your personal information?
We will never sell or rent your personal information to any third party unless you have consented to this. If you do consent, but later change your mind, you may contact us directly using the details described in the Contacting Us section below and we will stop any such activity as soon as reasonably practicable.
6. Do we use cookies?
Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your web browser that enable these parties to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitors. These service providers are not permitted to use the information on our behalf except to help us conduct and improve our business. If you prefer, you can choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies via your browser settings. Like most websites, if you turn your cookies off, some of our services may not function properly.
7. Security
While we take appropriate physical, technical and organizational measures to safeguard the personal information that you provide to us, we accept no liability if communications are intercepted by third parties or incorrectly delivered or not delivered.
In addition to our efforts, you can take several precautions to protect your personal information. First, you should choose a strong password. A strong password does not contain information that someone can easily learn about you such as your name or birthday and incorporates a variety of letters, numbers, and special characters. We also recommend that you change your password frequently (every 90 days). You can also install and regularly update firewall and antivirus software to protect your computer. When you are finished using our site, be sure to log out and close the browser window, especially if you are accessing our site from a public computer.
8. Your rights
You have the following rights:
- To update and correct any out-of-date or incorrect personal information that we hold about you free of charge; and
- To opt out of any marketing communications that we or any Trusted Partner to whom we have disclosed your personal information may send you.
If you wish to exercise any of the above rights, please contact us using the details specified below in the Contacting Us section below.
Please note that the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide credit reporting agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. For more information, visit: http://www.ftc.gov.
9. Links to Other Sites
This website may offer links to sites of partner companies. While we make every effort to monitor the quality of content provided on these sites, these external sites are not subject to this Privacy Policy and we have no control over the content of these sites. Please carefully review the policies on these sites before providing them any personal information.
In some cases, these links may be to partner companies with whom we have a business relationship, and who provide compensation to Funding Circle in return.
10. Notification of Changes
We may make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time. If any material changes are made to this Privacy Policy, advance notice of the change shall be posted in the first section of [this webpage] for at least one week prior to the change. By accessing and continuing to use this website, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to this Privacy Policy and any subsequently modified Privacy Policy in its entirety. Therefore, we encourage you to regularly review this page for the latest information on our privacy practices.
11. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
We comply with the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of the 13. Our website, products, and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years of age or older.
12. Terms of Use
Please also visit our Terms of Use which establish the use, disclaimers, and limitations of liability governing the use of our website.
13. Contacting us
If there are any questions regarding this Privacy Policy you may contact us using the information below.
Funding Circle
747 Front Street, Floor 4
San Francisco, CA 94111
USA
(415) 813-5245 (Mon to Fri, 8am - 8pm PT)
support@fundingcircle.com