Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 2025
East End Fair Finance Limited, trading as Fair Finance (“we”, “us”, “our”), is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and share your information when you apply for or use our financial services.
We are a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI), focused on providing fair and affordable credit to individuals and communities who may be excluded from mainstream finance. We are a company incorporated under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number (FRN) 717247 and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under number Z910781X.
This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with our website Terms & Conditions (accessible online at www.fairfinance.org.uk).
By using this website (the “Website”, Benefits Calculator tool (the “Benefits Calculator Tool”) or My Account portal (“the Portal”) or using any of our financial products or services, you agree to its terms (including as amended from time to time).
“We” includes subsidiaries of Fair Finance including Fair Finance Business Loans Limited.

1. Who We Are

East End Fair Finance Limited
Trading as: Fair Finance Registered Office: 18 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL
Company Number: IP29889R
ICO Registration: Z910781X
FCA Registration: 717247

2. What Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following types of personal information:
• Identity Information: Full name, date of birth, gender, ID documents.
• Contact Information: Postal address, email address, phone number.
• Financial Information: Income, expenditure, employment status, bank account details, loan and credit history.
• Credit and Risk Data: Credit reports and scores from credit reference agencies.
• Supporting Documentation: Payslips, bank statements, proof of address.
•Communication Records: Emails, call recordings, web forms or messages.
• Technical Information: IP address, browser type, device identifiers when accessing our Website, Benefits Calculator Tool or Portal.

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information:
• Directly from you when you apply for a loan or financial support.
• Through our Website, Benefits Calculator Tool or Portal or when you provide us with information by post, online applications, telephone, e-mail, SMS or in person, we may collect, store and use certain business or personal information that you disclose to us.
• From credit reference agencies (CRAs) and fraud prevention agencies (FPAs).
• From third-party referrers (with your consent or authority).
• From public sources, where appropriate.

When you visit our Website, Benefits Calculator Tool or Portal, we may also collect details of your computer’s internet protocol address, which is automatically collected by our web server, and other information about your use of the Website, such as log-in, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform. We also collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns, in order to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the website, and we study these patterns in a way which does not identify anyone.
Finally, we may receive information about you from third parties, such as credit reference agencies and bank data aggregation suppliers, who are legally entitled to disclose that information where you have provided consent.
We will at all times only collect and process your personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 and any other applicable data protection legislation.

4. Why We Use Your Information

We use your data for the following purposes and legal bases:

5. Credit and Fraud Checks

We conduct credit checks with Credit Reference Agencies and checks with Fraud Prevention Agencies to help us:
• Assess your application
• Detect and prevent fraud
• Manage our financial risk

Information we share with CRAs may remain on your file and affect your ability to obtain credit elsewhere.
Learn more about how CRAs use your data by visiting: [https://www.experian.co.uk/legal/crain/]

6. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share your personal data with:
• Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs)
• Fraud Prevention Agencies (FPAs)
• Our professional advisers (e.g., legal, audit, compliance)
• Technology and IT service providers
• Third party analytics services providers
• Payment processors and banks
• Regulatory bodies such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Debt collection partners (only when necessary)
• Community partners or funders (in anonymised or aggregated form, unless explicitly agreed)
We will never sell your data.

7. International Data Transfers

Your data is primarily stored and processed within the UK. If we transfer data outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (e.g. Standard Contractual Clauses) to maintain data protection standards.

8. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your data as long as necessary. This generally means:
• For active or repaid accounts: up to 6 years after the end of the relationship.
• For regulatory or legal purposes: up to 7 years or longer if required.

9. Your Rights

You have rights under UK data protection law, including to:
• Access your data
• Correct or update inaccurate data
• Request erasure (in some circumstances)
• Object to or restrict processing
• Request transfer of your data (data portability)
• Withdraw your consent (where applicable)
• Where you have been subject to an automatic decision, you have the right to an explanation about the decision and to request a human review of the decision.
• Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
To exercise these rights, contact us using the details below.

10. Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs), Fraud Prevention Agencies (FPAs) and Bank Account Aggregation Services

By applying for loans with Fair Finance, you agree that we may use your personal information to make credit reference checks and for fraud checking and prevention purposes. We currently use TransUnion, Equifax and Experian as our CRAs.

In order to process your application we will supply your personal information to these CRAs and they will give us information about you. This will include information from your credit application and about your financial situation and financial history. We do this to assess creditworthiness and product suitability, verify the accuracy of the data you have provided to us, check your identity, manage your account, trace and recover debts and prevent criminal activity (including fraud and money laundering), and ensure that any offers provided to you are appropriate to your circumstances.

In considering your loan application we will search your record with us and at CRAs. We will also continue to exchange information about you with CRAs on an ongoing basis, including about your settled accounts and any debts not fully repaid on time.

CRAs will share your information with other organisations such as lenders.

Your record may be linked to your spouse/partner, any joint applicant or other person with whom you are linked financially (“associated records”) in which event you will be assessed with reference to associated records. Please be sure that you have discussed this with them and shared with them this information before lodging the application. CRAs will also link your records together and these links will remain on your and their files until such time as you or your partner successfully files for a disassociation with the CRAs to break that link.

Our search will create “a search footprint”. This footprint is known as a hard search and will be visible to other lenders. CRAs provide us with both public (including the electoral register) and shared credit, financial situation and financial history information and fraud prevention information. They will add to their record about you, details of our search and your application and, where relevant, the name and address of your business and its proprietors. This will be seen by other organisations that make searches and, together with other information about you and those with whom you are linked financially, may be used to make credit decisions about you and those with whom you are linked financially. If you are a director, we will seek confirmation from the CRA that the residential address provided is the same as that shown on the restricted register of directors’ usual addresses at Companies House. We may use a credit scoring or other automated decision-making system.

We will add to your record with CRAs details of your agreement with us, any payments you make under it and any default or failure to keep to its terms. Records remain on file for 6 years after they are closed, whether you settled the debt or defaulted.

It is important that you provide us with accurate information. We may check your details with FPAs. If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to FPAs and other organisations to prevent fraud and money laundering. These records will be shared with other organisations and may be used and searched by us and them, for example, to consider applications for credit and credit related services, or other facilities, for you and any associated person; check details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance; trace debtors, recover debts and manage your account(s); check details of job applicants and employees. Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information. We may make periodic searches at CRAs and FPAs to manage your account with us. We and other organisations may access and use from other countries the information recorded by CRAs and FPAs. Where any search or application is completed or agreement entered into involving joint parties, you both consent to our recording details at CRAs. As a result, an ‘association’ will be created which will link your financial records and your associate’s information may be taken into account when a future search is made by us or another lender unless you file a “disassociation” at the CRAs.

You can contact the CRAs currently operating in the UK; the information they hold may not be the same so it is worth contacting them all. Please contact us at the telephone number, e-mail address or postal address provided on page 1 if you want to have details of the CRAs or any FPAs from whom we obtain, and to whom we pass, information about you or if you would like to read the full details of how the information held by them may be used. You have a legal right to these details. You are entitled to a copy of the information we hold about you by writing to us and requesting it.

The identities of the CRAs, their role also as fraud prevention agencies, the data they hold, the ways in which they use and share personal information, data retention periods and your data protection rights with the CRAs are explained in more detail here.

When completing a loan application, you confirm that the information and evidence that you have provided in support of this application is correct and may be used in the ways described above. You hereby authorise Fair Finance to make any enquiries it deems necessary to third parties in connection with your application. You understand that if there is any change in your circumstances you must advise Fair Finance immediately. You confirm that Fair Finance may disclose any of the details or supporting evidence you have provided in connection with your application and copies of any correspondence or agreements between us with third parties, such as third party funders.

Please also refer to the privacy policies of the CRAs we use:

TransUnion: https://www.transunion.co.uk/legal/privacy-centre/pc-general

Equifax: https://www.equifax.co.uk/privacy-hub/privacy-notice

Experian: https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/privacy.html

Use of Third-Party Bank Account Aggregation Services

When completing a loan application, you have the option of using our Third Party Bank Account Aggregation Supplier to send us details about your bank accounts, and verification of your identity. Our current supplier is Lending Metrics Ltd and its product oohMoolah, or such other persons as stated on the applications page of our Website. The supplier will require you to log in to your on-line bank account information via that supplier’s or its sub-contractor’s service, so that they can retrieve your financial information and verification of your identity from your on-line account. The supplier may capture your log-in credentials solely to provide this service, and will encrypt them and store them securely for a limited period required to provide the service. The supplier will aggregate or re-present your financial information and supply it to us, for the purposes described in our privacy policy. The actions and processes taken by the other suppliers are further described in the link from the applications page of this Website, or at https://oohmoolah.com/. It is important that you read them. In electing the option, you authorise us and our suppliers to collect and use your bank account and identification information in these ways, and that you are not acting on behalf of any other person in providing such authorisation. You also acknowledge that we and the suppliers will rely on your authorisation and confirmation.

11. Marketing and Communications

We may send you updates about our services, offers, or community projects—but only if you have opted in. You can opt out at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” or contacting us directly.

12. Disclosures

We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group, which means our group companies, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

If we (i) transfer, charge, disclose or assign your agreement to a third party, including in connection with the sale, transfer or disposal of our business, (ii) employ a third party to manage any aspect of your account, or (iii) engage a third party in relation to your loan application for any other reason, we may pass relevant information about you to them.

We may share your information where we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our contracts with you.

We may also share your information with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies, as explained further above.

We may also share your information with trusted third party analytics services suppliers, as explained further above.

We may share your information with our suppliers of processing services. This will include bank data aggregation suppliers, where you consent.

In addition, we (or third parties acting on our behalf) may also store or process information that we collect about you in countries outside the European Economic Area, which may have lower standards of data protection, provided there are appropriate safeguards in place.

We have put in place technical and organisational security measures to prevent the loss or unauthorised access of your personal information. However, whilst we have used our best efforts to ensure the security of your data, please be aware that we cannot guarantee the security of information transmitted over the Internet.

13. How We Protect Your Data 

We take your privacy seriously. We use physical, technical, and organisational security measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we use your data, please contact:

Data Protection Officer East End Fair Finance Limited 18 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL Phone: 0208 988 0627 Email: compliance@fairfinance.org.uk

15. Cookies?

The Website uses cookies or equivalent technologies to distinguish you from other users of the Website. Cookies are small files stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer or mobile device which are used to collect your personal information. You may choose to refuse cookies but, if you do so, some of the functionality of the Website may no longer be available to you. Fair Finance uses the following cookies:

You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser or app that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. For more information about cookies, including further details as to what they are and how to refuse them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

How up-to-date is this Privacy Policy?

We may update or amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to comply with law or to meet our changing business requirements without notice to you. Any updates or amendments will be posted on the Website. By continuing to use the Website or using any of our financial products or services, you agree to be bound by the terms of these updates and amendments.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on 08 July 2025.

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