Privacy

"We", "our" or "us" means Close Invoice Finance Limited of 10 Crown Place, London EC2A 4FT and its subsidiaries, affiliates and their respective parent and subsidiary companies (“Close Brothers Group”). For the purposes of data protection law, we are a data controller in respect of your personal data. We collect and use your personal data and where applicable this may include information related to your spouse/partner, directors, shareholders, partners, guarantors and owners (your “representatives”). Close Brothers is responsible for ensuring that it uses your personal data in compliance with data protection law.

If you have any questions about this notice, about how we process personal data or about your rights over your personal data, our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@closebrothers.com or DPO, Close Brothers, 10 Crown Place, London EC2A 4FT.  

This notice applies to any personal data we receive from you, create or obtain from other sources and explains how it will be used by us. It is important that you take the time to read this notice so that you understand how we will use your personal data and your rights in relation to your personal data.

Personal data that we collect about you

We will collect and use the following personal data about you and your representatives:

Information you give us

• This is information about you and your representatives that you give us by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by telephone, email or other communication formats. The information you give us may include your and your representatives’ name, address, email address and telephone number, financial and credit card information, employment history, health information, credit history, identification records, qualifications and vehicle or asset details.
   
• You must ensure that in respect of any information you provide us with, which does not relate to you (for example, information about your representatives), you have obtained the necessary consent to disclose such information and provided the individual to whom the information relates with a copy of this notice.

Information we collect or generate about you and your representatives

• Website Usage Information – Our website uses Google Analytics to automatically gather certain statistical information such as the number and frequency of visitors and their IP addresses. This information is used as aggregated statistical information about users, providing usage by IP address. This information helps us to measure how individuals use the website and our services, so that we can continually improve them.
• We sometimes record telephone conversations to resolve complaints, improve our service and for training and quality assurance purposes. 
• We generate data for statistical analysis.
• We provide short-term borrowing to our customers by allowing them to draw money against their sales invoices.  We therefore collect personal data of the end debtors from our customers for managing their sales ledger, invoices and/or debt collection. 

Use of Cookies

For full details on what cookies are, what they do, and which cookies are used by us, please see our Cookie Policy.

To enable you to sign in and personalise your online experience we use “cookies”. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard disk by a web page server. Cookies contain information that can later be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. We use cookies to store your preferences and other information on your computer to save you time by eliminating the need to repeatedly enter the same information and to display your personalised content and appropriate advertising on your later visits to our website and third-party sites and platforms.

Information we receive from other sources

• Financial/Credit Information – We will use information provided by credit reference agencies or financial assessment providers when assessing your application for finance and to verify your or, if applicable, your representative’s identity. Such information may include some details about other credit you have taken out, any credit arrangements you have met or failed to meet, and any court judgments made against you.
• Fraud Prevention Agencies – When verifying your identity as part of our application process, we may access information recorded by fraud prevention agencies within and outside the UK. This may include information about any criminal convictions and any allegations regarding criminal activity that relate to you. 
• Intermediaries – We will receive information from dealers, brokers and introducers including your personal details, business details, contact details and relevant asset or policy details for the purposes of entering in to and administering your agreement.
• Borrowers - We will receive information of the end debtors associated with the sales ledger and invoices provided by the borrowers for obtaining finance pursuant to our agreements with them.
• Social Media Profile – Where you have clicked through one of our promotions or event notices posted on a third-party social media website such as LinkedIn, we will receive your contact information provided as part of your user profile such as your name, email address and telephone number and any other relevant business information such as your organisation’s name, address and your industry.  Some of this information may be prepopulated based on your social media profile; other parts may be completed by you, as and when requested.
• Public databases – we may obtain information about individuals from public databases. We use reputable sources including, but not limited to, the electoral register and Companies House. We employ appropriate measures to assure the quality of information which we collect.

How we use your personal data

Your personal data may be used by us in the following ways:

Credit Scoring & Crime Prevention

• To verify your identity as part of the account opening process for new customers;
• for making a credit check on you. We may carry out a search with a credit reference agency who will keep a record of our enquiry against your name and which may be linked to your representatives (“associated records”). For the purposes of any application for products or services from us, you may be assessed with reference to “associated records”. Where any search or application is completed or agreement entered into involving joint parties, we may record details at credit reference agencies, as a result an “association” will be created that will link your financial records. Details of which credit reference agency we have used are available on request. We may also add to your or, if applicable, your business’s, record with the credit reference agencies details of your agreement with us, any payments you make under it and any default or failure to keep to its terms. These records will remain on the credit reference agencies’ files for 6 years after our agreement with you is settled or terminated whether settled by you or, if applicable, your business or by way of default. These credit reference agencies may create, or add to, their own record about you, or, if applicable, your business, details of our search and your application. This and other information about you or, if applicable, your business and those with whom you are linked financially may be used to make credit decisions about you or your business; 
• You can find further information about how credit reference agencies may process your personal data at https://www.experian.co.uk/legal/crain/ or you can contact us to obtain a paper copy of this information;
• we may use credit scoring techniques and automated decision-making systems to either fully or partially assess your information. These credit scoring techniques and automated decision-making systems may take into account any previous applications for finance, defaults or existing debt. The results of this decision may decide whether we provide you with our services or not. If you disagree with the results of an automated decision, you can request a review of your application;
• to carry out routine checks on your organisation’s directors and invoices to monitor the risks associated with our agreement with your organisation;
• to allow us to detect and prevent fraudulent activity including sharing personal data with fraud prevention agencies; and
• to allow us to detect and prevent money laundering activity or terrorist financing.
   

Products & Services

• To provide you with information, products or services that you may request from us;
• to carry out our obligations arising from any agreements you enter with us;
• to make payments;
• to recover monies;
• where we are permitted to do so, to send promotional information about our products and services via methods such as email, post, telephone, etc.; and 
• to contact you via post, email or telephone in relation to the administration of your account or to carry out quality control research.

Statistical Analysis

• As part of our legal and regulatory obligations, to conduct statistical analysis to improve our credit risk profile, tackle fraud, and improve our credit decisions. This may include statistical analysis on your personal data even if your application is declined by us or you decide not to complete your application with us; and 
• to identify and offer you tailored products and services that are suitable for you and improve our service.

Legal basis for processing your personal data

We process your personal data pursuant to the following legal bases:

• Taking steps (at your request) prior to entering into an agreement with you, and subsequently for the administration and performance of our agreement with you;
• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights and / or for the purpose of (or in connection with) legal proceedings; and
• the use of your personal data as described is necessary for our legitimate business interests which are:

1. enforcing the terms and conditions of any agreement we have with you, or your supplier which has obtained invoice finance from us; 
2. the recovery of outstanding debts existing under an agreement with you, or your supplier which has obtained invoice finance from us;
3. carrying out routine checks on your organisation’s directors and invoices to monitor the risks associated with our agreement with your organisation;
4. for statistical analysis to improve our products and services; or
5.  to contact you about products and services that may be of interest to you. You may object to this at any time by contacting us at marketing@closeinvoice.com or by calling 01273 321177 or by mail addressed to Marketing Department, Close Invoice Finance, The Portland Building, 27-28 Church Street, Brighton, BN1 1RN.

Sharing your personal data

We may disclose your personal data within the Close Brothers Group and to third party service providers in the circumstances described below:

• to ensure the delivery or maintenance of products or services you have taken out with us;
• to promote products or services similar to those you have taken out with us which may be of interest to you;
• to ensure the safety and security of our data; and
• as part of our internal research and statistical analysis activity.
• We will take steps to ensure that the personal data is accessed only by personnel that have a need to do so for the purposes described in this notice.
• We may also share your personal data outside of the Close Brothers Group:
• with our professional advisers to enforce or apply the terms of use and other agreements you (or your supplier) have with us, as the case may be;
• with an insurer or insurers for administration; 
• with claims handlers and fraud prevention agencies;
• with any guarantor;
• with any funder in order to enable funders to assess the value of our assets; 
• with any broker or introducer of an agreement with us;
• with tracing and repossession agents;
• with financial assessment providers;
• with associated audit services;
• if we sell any of our business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective buyer for due diligence purposes;
• if we are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by us about you will be disclosed to the third party buyer; and
• to third party agents or contractors (for example, the providers of our electronic data storage services or call centres) for the purposes of providing services to us.

These third parties will be subject to confidentiality requirements and they will only use your personal data as described in this privacy notice.

We may also share your personal data outside of the Close Brothers Group to the extent required by law, for example if we are under a duty to disclose your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation including but not limited to disclosures made to: 

• Credit agencies;
• Companies House; and
• to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with fraud prevention agencies who will use it to prevent fraud and money-laundering and to verify your identity. If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment. Further details of how your information will be used by us and these fraud prevention agencies, and your data protection rights, can be found at

• https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn;
• UK – https://www.experian.co.uk/legal/crain/  or 
• ROI – www.centralcreditregister.ie 

Transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area

The information you provide to us will be transferred to and stored on our secure servers in the European Economic Area (“EEA”) or in the UK. However, from time to time, your personal data may be transferred to, stored in, or accessed from a destination outside the EEA and/or the UK. It may also be processed by staff operating outside of the EEA and/or the UK who work for a company in the Close Brothers Group or for one of our suppliers. 

Where we transfer your personal data outside the EEA and/or the UK, we will ensure that it is protected in a manner that is consistent with how your personal data will be protected by us in the EEA and/or in the UK. This can be done in a number of ways, for instance:

• The country that we send the data to might be approved by the European Commission, UK Government, or a relevant data protection authority; or
• the recipient might have signed up to a contract based on “model contractual clauses” approved by the European Commission or UK Government, obliging them to protect your personal data.

In other circumstances the law may permit us to otherwise transfer your personal data outside the EEA and/or in the UK. In all cases, however, we will ensure that any transfer of your personal data is fully assessed to be compliant with data protection law. 

You can obtain more details of the protection given to your personal data when it is transferred outside the EEA (including a copy of the standard data protection clauses which we have entered into with recipients of your personal data) by contacting us in accordance with the “Contact us” section below.
 

How long we keep your personal data

How long we hold your personal data for will vary. The retention period will be determined by various criteria including:

• The legal basis for retaining it;
• the purpose for which we are using it – we will need to keep the data for as long as is necessary for that purpose; and 
• legal obligations – laws or regulation may set a minimum period for which we have to store your personal data.

If you are a customer, we will retain your personal data for 7 years following the end of our relationship with you, unless we are required by law to keep it for a longer period of time (in which case, we will keep it until the expiry of the period required by law).
 

Your rights

You have a number of rights in relation to the personal data that we hold about you. These rights include:

• The right to object to our processing of your personal data where we process your personal data pursuant to our legitimate business interests. Please note that there may be circumstances where you object to our processing of your personal data, but we may be legally entitled to refuse that request;   
• the right to obtain information regarding the processing of your personal data and access to the personal data which we hold about you;
• the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal data at any time. Please note, however, that we may still be entitled to process your personal data if we have another legitimate reason (other than consent) for doing so; 
• in some circumstances, the right to receive some personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or request that we transmit those data to a third party where this is technically feasible. Please note that this right only applies to personal data which you have provided to us;
• the right to request that we rectify your personal data if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
• the right to request that we erase your personal data in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be circumstances where you ask us to erase your personal data but we are legally entitled to retain it;
• the right to request that we restrict our processing of your personal data in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be circumstances where you ask us to restrict our processing of your personal data but we are legally entitled to refuse that request; 
• the right to object to any automated decision making (including profiling) which we conduct based on your personal data, which significantly affects you. Please note that there may be circumstances where you object to us conducting automated decision making but we are legally entitled to refuse that request; 
• the right to object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes; and
• the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection regulator (details of which are provided below) if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us.

You can exercise your rights by contacting us using the details set out in the “Contacting us” section below.

You can find out more information about your rights by contacting the data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner, or by searching their website at https://ico.org.uk/

Changes to our privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review. Any changes we make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

Contact us

We are registered in the UK and our registered address is at 10 Crown Place, London, EC2A 4FT and our company registration number is 00935949.

Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy or personal data we hold about you:

• Write to us at our address: Data Protection Representative, Close Invoice Finance, The Portland Building, 27-28 Church Street, Brighton, BN1 1RN
• By telephone: 01273 321177; or
• By email: marketing@closeinvoice.com