About Privacy

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Management and staff are aware of the need, and are trained, to exercise the utmost discretion in handling information obtained from customers in the provision of our services.

We appreciate that the protection of our customers' information, which has been provided in the course of business, is of the utmost importance to our customers and to us, as is the need to base our relationship on mutual trust.

When you register as a user of our website, we will validate your details, such as your name, address and age. Some of this information is essential for us to be able to accurately identify who is using our services and as such is mandatory. Other types of information are collected to help us profile who is using the services and what their interests are, and is of assistance to us for marketing purposes. Information of this type is often optional - you need only fill it in if you wish to do so. We value your trust and your information will be held in strictest confidence. The personal information that you provide to us during registration is used for identification purposes.

We, like you, are concerned about security. For information on this important issue, refer to our Internet Banking security information page .

Please be aware that whenever you voluntarily disclose personal information over the Internet (for example: in discussion forums, via e-mail, or in chat sites) that this information can be collected and used by others. In short, if you post personal information in publicly accessible online forums, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your Customer ID and Access Code and/or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are using the Internet and our website.

If you have any concerns or questions, please call 1300 654 990 for the cost of a local call anywhere in Australia.

We will apply our privacy compliance procedures (which are based on privacy legislation and the Federal Privacy Commissioner's National Principles for the Fair Handling of Personal Information), in relation to any personal information which we gather in the course of carrying on our business. We regard all the personal information we have collected from and about you as being equally sensitive and undertake to treat it all in accordance with the principles set out in this Privacy Policy.

Collection of Information

We will:

• only collect personal information which is relevant to and necessary for a legitimate function or activity of our business;
• only collect information by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way;
• tell you what, in broad outline, we intend to do with your personal information, including -
  
  • whether we intend to disclose the information to any outside party and if so, the classes of persons or organisations to which it would be disclosed;
  • if there is any relevant law that either requires or allows the collection of that particular information; and
  • the main consequences for you if the information is not supplied;
• where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, collect personal information directly from you, but, if we have to collect information about you from someone else, we will, wherever possible, obtain your consent where the information is not already in the public domain;
• ensure that only permitted and accurate information is included in your credit information file, if any;
• only request or collect a tax file number for the purpose of carrying out responsibilities under taxation law; not collect sensitive information about you unless:
  
  • you have consented;
  • it is required or authorised by or under law; or
  • it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal or equitable claim.

Use and Disclosure

We will:

• when we use or disclose personal information, record the use or disclosure and, in appropriate circumstances, advise you;
• keep adequate records in regard to any disclosures of personal credit information;
• ensure that personal information contained in a credit report is used only as permitted by privacy legislation;
• restrict the use of personal information obtained from another credit provider to that to which you have specifically agreed;
• restrict disclosure of personal information to the type of information permitted under the legislation and to those persons permitted under the legislation to be given the information;
• not use or disclose a tax file number to establish or confirm the identity of an individual or to obtain any information about an individual for any purpose not authorised by taxation law;
• only use or disclose information about you to an outside party if we have your express or implied consent unless:
  
  • we reasonably believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to any person's life or health; or
  • the use or disclosure is required or specifically authorised by law; or
  • we reasonably believe that an offence has been, or is about to be committed and we use or disclose the personal information as a necessary part of the investigation of the matter or in reporting our concerns to the relevant authorities.
• We may disclose limited aspects of your personal information to our professional advisers such as our solicitor or auditors where this is necessary for them to properly be able to advise us in respect of any necessary function of our business operations. Any third party to whom such information is disclosed will be contractually obliged to protect the privacy of all information provided to them by us or which is obtained from any other source, or which they might collect in carrying out the task required;
• take certain steps as required by legislation, before reporting an overdue payment or serious credit infringement to a credit reporting agency or other body permitted by legislation;
• promptly report to a credit reporting agency the cessation of your credit obligations, including in relation to an overdue payment;
• give an opinion relating to consumer credit history only where you have provided your written agreement.

Data Quality

We will:

• take reasonable steps to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate when we use or disclose it;
• notify credit reporting agencies where inaccurate information has been supplied and to investigate the accuracy of other listings which may be similarly affected;
• note in a report that it is subject to an amendment request, where you make a request to amend a credit report;
• keep a record of information obtained from another credit provider;
• rectify our reporting procedures as necessary, as required by privacy legislation;
• advise another credit provider of any mistaken information received from it;
• take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information contained in credit reports is accurate, up to date, complete and not misleading.

Data Security

We will:

• take all reasonable security measures to protect the personal information we hold from misuse and loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure;
• where specific legislation requires information to be handled in a particular manner, comply with the requirements of that legislation.

Openness

We will:

• on request, let you know what sort of personal information we hold, why we hold it, and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that information;
• adopt specific procedures in settling credit reporting disputes;
• notify you if credit is not granted, in accordance with specific requirements of privacy legislation;
• handle credit reporting disputes in a fair, efficient and timely manner.

Access

We will:

• deal promptly with your requests for access and amendment of your personal information;
• ensure that access by your agent (if any) is limited to information allowed to be disclosed by your written agreement;
• where we hold personal information about you that can readily be retrieved and you ask us to show it to you, provide you with access to the information unless denial of such access is specifically authorised or required by law (eg. legal professional privilege), or the provision of such access would:
  
  • endanger the safety or physical or mental health of any person; or
  • have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of any other person(s), including our employees; or
  • require us to disclose any material which we have developed or derived from the personal information which has been collected, and which we may use in deciding whether or not we will enter into any business or other transaction or relationship with you. (Subject to the terms of this policy, however, we will give you access to the underlying information on which the decision is based); or
  • prejudice an investigation of possible fraudulent or other illegal activity;
  • where we have collected personal information about you from another person, only allow you access to that information with their consent;
  • if appropriate, levy a reasonable charge for providing access to personal information. Generally the charge would be based on the time taken to make the records available. Simply making a request for access will not give rise to any charge;
  • if we hold personal information about you and you can show us that the information is incorrect or misleading, take steps to correct that information. If we disagree with your opinion as to the information's correctness we will allow you to attach a statement to the information setting out your views;
  • when we refuse to allow you access to personal information about you, or to correct information which you believe is incorrect, tell you why.

Identifiers

We will not adopt as our own identifier an identifier that has been assigned to an individual by a government agency such as a Tax File Number (or by an agent of or contractor to a government agency acting in its capacity as agent or contractor).

Anonymity

While the nature of financial services does not easily lend itself to anonymity, we will wherever practical, and subject to any legal constraints, allow you to transact business with us anonymously should you so wish.

Sending Information Overseas

We will not send your personal information outside Australia unless we are satisfied that the recipient of the information has adequate data protection arrangements in place, or you have consented to the transfer of the information.

Personal information means information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion.

Sensitive information means, for the purpose of carrying on our business, information or an opinion about an individual's:

• Racial or ethnic origin;
• Membership of a professional or trade association; or
• Membership of a trade union.

You are a customer who has provided personal or sensitive information to us or in respect of whom such information has been provided to us.

We are Members Equity Bank Pty. Ltd.

Online Consumer Information Practices

This section explains how we deal with personal information that we collect through our website.

Visiting Our Website

You can browse our site anonymously without identifying yourself during your visit. We will obtain information that personally identifies you when you specifically choose to provide it.

For example, during your visits to our web site you may:

• send messages or comments to us via the website, eg. through the "Contact Us" form;

• or conduct transactions online.

You will then need to give us certain personal information just as you would if you were communicating with us in person, by mail or by telephone.

E-mail Communications

If you choose to send us an e-mail message, we may retain the content of the e-mail, your e-mail address, and our response in order to service your needs.

Conducting Transactions Online

Please refer to our full privacy policy for details of how we use and disclose information provided when you conduct transactions on line.

Changes

We will post any changes to our Online Consumer Information Practices on our website, so we encourage you to check this page from time to time.