Privacy Policy & Credit Reporting Policy
Next Step Financing
ABN 77 680 857 416
Australian Financial Services and Australian Credit Licence Number 384704 offers a range of financial products and services across Australia.
A Legal Disclaimer
Our Privacy Policy is designed to provide you with general information about how we collect, store, use and disclose your personal information. We understand that the details you provide to us are private and personal.
We will collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and all other relevant laws, regulations and codes (Privacy Law) and this Privacy Policy. When you decide to purchase or acquire a product or service from us we may provide you with further information about privacy in the form of a Privacy Statement or other form of privacy disclosure (Privacy Statement).
The Privacy Statement will give you specific information about how we will handle the personal information you have given to us. We may also seek your specific consent in relation to the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information.
What do we mean by 'personal information'?
Personal information means any details about you, from which your identity is apparent or can be uncovered. The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include your name, date of birth, address, account details, occupation and any other information we made need to identify you. We may also collect the ages and number of your dependants and cohabitants, the length of time at your current address, your employment details and proof of earnings and expenses.
"Sensitive information" is a subcategory of personal information which includes information about your health. We may be required to collect sensitive information about your health in certain circumstances. We will only collect sensitive information about you with your consent.
What do we mean by ‘credit information’?
We may collect the following kinds of credit information and exchange this information with credit reporting bodies and other entities:
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credit liability information about your existing finance
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repayment history information, which is information about whether you meet your repayments on time;
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information about the type and amount of finance that you are applying for;
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financial hardship information (including information that any repayments are affected by a financial hardship arrangement)
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default information (including overdue payments)
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new arrangement information;
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details of any serious credit infringements;
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personal insolvency information;
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publicly available information;
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payment information; and
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court proceedings information.
We also use the term ‘credit information’ to refer to credit eligibility information, which is credit reporting information supplied to us by a credit reporting body, and any information that we derive from it.
Why do we collect your personal and credit information?
We collect personal and credit information for the purposes of assessing your application for finance and managing that finance. We may also collect your personal information for the purposes of direct marketing and managing our relationship with you. From time to time we may offer you other products and services.
Do we collect your personal information from third parties?
Sometimes we collect your personal information from other sources. Examples of where we may receive personal information about you from another source and why this may happen are:
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a credit reference about you from a credit reporting body in the course of assessing your application for a loan;
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your agent, where you have appointed an agent to act on your behalf in dealing with us, such as a broker, legal adviser or other representative such as a friend or family member;
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publicly available sources of information such as telephone directories;
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as required or authorised by law, for example to government agencies, or regulatory bodies for purposes related to public health or safety or the prevention or detection of unlawful activities;
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a third party to whom we have contracted to provide a financial service or product to our customers;
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any external third parties where you have asked them to provide your personal information to us.
Credit information
If we have provided you with a financial product or service, we exchange your credit information with credit reporting bodies. We use the credit information that we exchange with the credit reporting body to assess your creditworthiness, assess your application for finance and manage your finance.
If you fail to meet your payment obligations in relation to any finance that we have provided or arranged or you have committed a serious credit infringement then we may disclose this information to a credit reporting body.
You have the right to request access to the credit information that we hold about you and make a request for us to correct that credit information if needed. Please see the heading “How do you access and correct your personal information?” below.
Sometimes your credit information will be used by credit reporting bodies for the purposes of pre-screening direct marketing on the request of other credit providers. You can contact the credit reporting body at any time to request that your credit information is not used in this way.
You may contact the credit reporting body to advise them that you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud. In Australia, you can ask a CRB not to use or disclose your credit-related personal information for a period of 21 days without your consent if you believe on reasonable grounds that you are, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud, including identity fraud.
The credit reporting bodies we use are Equifax and Illion. You can download a copy of their privacy policies at https://www.equifax.com.au/privacy and https://www.illion.com.au/privacy-policy/.
How do we verify your identity electronically?
We may ask you for your consent to verify your identity electronically in order to comply with our obligations under the AML/CTF Act. When you provide us with your consent to verify your identity electronically, we will provide your personal information to Equifax, a credit reporting body, and request that they provide us with an assessment of whether the personal information matches (in whole or part) the personal information held by Equifax. Equifax may prepare and provide a verification assessment to us, and may use the personal information provided by us, and the personal information held by them (including personal information of other individuals) to prepare the verification assessment.
Your personal information will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Law. When making a verification request, your personal information is considered to be “credit information” under the Privacy Act.
What do we mean by 'personal information'?
Personal information means any details about you, from which your identity is apparent or can be uncovered. The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include your name, date of birth, address, account details, occupation and any other information we made need to identify you. We may also collect the ages and number of your dependants and cohabitants, the length of time at your current address, your employment details and proof of earnings and expenses.
"Sensitive information" is a subcategory of personal information which includes information about your health. We may be required to collect sensitive information about your health in certain circumstances. We will only collect sensitive information about you with your consent.
How do we keep your personal information accurate and up to date?
It is important that the information we hold is accurate and up to date. In this, we ask that you contact us whenever there are any changes to your personal details, so that we can update our records.
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