1. About this policy
The Finance Office Pty Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”, “The Finance Office”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use, disclose and protect your personal information when you visit our website, enquire about our services, or engage us to assist with your finance needs.
We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), and we comply with our obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) when we handle credit-related information.
By providing your information to us — through our website, by phone, email, SMS, in person, or through enquiries initiated from advertising — you consent to us collecting, using and disclosing your personal information as described in this policy.
2. Who we are
The Finance Office Pty Ltd (ABN 87 601 038 386) is a mortgage broking and credit assistance business operating the website www.thefinanceoffice.com.au.
We are a corporate authorised representative of Mufti Finance Corporation Pty Ltd (ABN 89 125 484 166, Australian Credit Licence 390234). We work with Australian Finance Group Ltd (AFG) (ACN 066 385 822, Australian Credit Licence 389087), our aggregator, to access and manage applications with a panel of Australian lenders.
This means that when you deal with us, your personal and credit information may be handled by us, our licensee, and our aggregator and lenders, as described below.
3. What personal information we collect
We only collect information that is reasonably necessary for our functions and activities. This may include:
- Identity and contact information — your name, date of birth, residential and postal address, email address, phone number, and other contact details.
- Financial information — information about your income, employment, assets, liabilities, expenses, tax file number (where you choose to provide it), bank statements, savings, and existing loans or debts.
- Enquiry information — the details you provide when you use our website forms, our calculator hub, or book an appointment, including the type of finance you are interested in (e.g. first home buyer, refinancing, investment, SMSF).
- Credit information — information about your credit history, credit applications, repayment history, defaults, and credit eligibility information obtained from credit reporting bodies with your consent, as more fully described in the AFG Privacy Disclosure Statement and Consent.
- Sensitive information — information such as health information or information about financial hardship or other vulnerabilities, but only where it is relevant to your application and you have consented, or the collection is otherwise permitted by law.
- Website and marketing data — information collected automatically when you visit our website, such as your IP address, device type, browser, pages visited and interactions, including data collected through advertising and analytics tools such as Facebook (Meta) and Google.
4. How we collect your information
We collect personal information:
- Directly from you, when you:
- complete an enquiry form, the calculator hub, or a booking form on our website;
- contact us by phone, email, SMS, or in person;
- interact with our virtual assistant “Jess” (including by voice or chat); or
- provide documents or information as part of a finance application.
- From advertising and third-party platforms, such as Facebook (Meta) or Google, when you submit a lead form on those platforms.
- From our licensee and aggregator — Mufti Finance Corporation Pty Ltd and Australian Finance Group (AFG) — as required to progress your application.
- From lenders, insurers, credit reporting bodies and credit providers, with your authorisation, to assess an application.
- From your referees (such as your employer or accountant) where you have authorised us to contact them.
Wherever possible, we collect information directly from you rather than from third parties.
5. Why we collect and how we use your information
We use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, which may include:
- responding to your enquiry and providing quotes or general information;
- providing credit assistance, including assessing your eligibility for finance and preparing, lodging and managing loan applications on your behalf;
- arranging insurance or other related products where you request them;
- managing our ongoing relationship with you, including portfolio reviews;
- complying with our legal and regulatory obligations (including under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) and anti-money laundering law);
- direct marketing (see section 8); and
- improving our website, customer experience and advertising (see section 9).
We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
6. Our client management system (CRM)
Information you provide to us through our website, advertising, phone, email, or in person may be entered into, and stored in, our client relationship management system (CRM), which is operated by a third-party software provider and hosted electronically (including in cloud storage).
Your information held in our CRM is used by our team to manage your enquiry and application, maintain our relationship with you, and meet our compliance obligations. We take reasonable steps to protect information held in our CRM, including access controls and secure transmission. Some of the service providers that support our CRM, or other business functions, may store or process data overseas — see section 10.
7. How we disclose your information
We may disclose your personal information to the following categories of recipients, and only for purposes consistent with this policy:
- Our licensee — Mufti Finance Corporation Pty Ltd (ACL 390234);
- Our aggregator — Australian Finance Group Ltd (AFG, ACL 389087), whose Privacy Policy is available at www.afgonline.com.au. AFG supports us in accessing lender panels, assessing and processing credit applications;
- Lenders, banks and other credit providers, to assess, approve and manage a finance application;
- Insurers, where insurance is arranged as part of your application;
- Credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax, Experian and illion) and other credit providers, in accordance with the credit reporting framework;
- Your referees, accountants, lawyers, conveyancers or real estate agents, where you have authorised their involvement or to verify information you have provided;
- Our service providers, including IT providers, cloud storage providers, CRM providers, printing and mailing houses, lawyers, and professional advisers who support our business;
- Government agencies, courts, tribunals and regulators, where we are required by law to do so; and
- Any person considering acquiring an interest in our business or assets (in connection with a sale or transfer), or as otherwise permitted by law.
Some of the entities we disclose to may be located overseas, including service providers of our aggregator and CRM. See section 10 for more detail.
We will not disclose your personal information to any person or organisation for purposes unrelated to those set out in this policy, except where required or authorised by law, or with your consent.
8. Direct marketing
From time to time, we may use your personal information to provide you with information about products and services that may be of interest to you — for example, home loan offers, refinancing opportunities, or market updates — by email, SMS, phone, or other electronic means.
You may opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from us at any time by:
- using the “unsubscribe” facility in any marketing email or SMS; or
- contacting us at [email protected] or (02) 8609 3232.
We will honour your request promptly and without charge. We do not use sensitive information for direct marketing without your consent.
9. Cookies, pixels and analytics
Our website uses cookies, pixels and similar technologies — including tools from advertising and analytics providers such as Facebook (Meta) and Google — to:
- understand how visitors use our website;
- measure the performance of our advertising; and
- improve your experience.
These tools may collect information such as your IP address, device and browser details, pages visited, and the actions you take on our website. Where you submit a lead form through an advertisement, information you enter in that form may be transmitted to us and stored in our CRM.
You can manage cookies through your browser settings, and you may opt out of personalised advertising through the advertising platforms’ own controls. We do not use cookies to collect information for any purpose other than those described in this policy.
10. Overseas disclosure and international data transfers
Some of the service providers that support our business — including our CRM provider, cloud storage providers, and certain service providers used by our aggregator (AFG) — may store or process personal information on servers located outside Australia (for example, in the United States, India, the Philippines, or other countries).
Where we disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, we take reasonable steps to ensure the recipient handles the information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), or we rely on an exception permitted by law.
11. Access to and correction of your information
You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you, and to request that we correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete or misleading.
To request access or correction:
- Contact us at [email protected] or (02) 8609 3232.
- We may need to verify your identity before providing access.
- We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe (usually within 30 days).
There is no charge for correcting your information. In some circumstances we may charge a reasonable fee for providing access, and we will advise you of any fee before proceeding.
12. How we store and protect your information
Your personal information is stored electronically, including in our CRM, and in some cases in hard copy. We take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, including:
- access controls and secure authentication;
- encryption for data transmitted over the internet;
- secure storage for physical records; and
- limiting access to personal information to staff who need it to perform their duties.
We retain personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law, after which we destroy or de-identify it in a secure manner.
13. Complaints and how to contact us
If you have a concern or complaint about how we have collected, used, stored or disclosed your personal information, please contact us:
- The Finance Office Pty Ltd
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (02) 8609 3232
- Address: 383 Woodstock Avenue, Plumpton NSW 2761
- Website: www.thefinanceoffice.com.au
How we handle complaints:
- Contact us with details of your complaint.
- We will acknowledge your complaint and investigate it.
- We aim to respond with a resolution within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate your complaint to:
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) — www.oaic.gov.au or 1300 363 992; and/or
- Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), for credit-related complaints — www.afca.org.au or 1800 931 678.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be published on this page, and the “last updated” date at the top of this policy will be revised. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
15. More information
For more information about privacy, visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au. For information about how our aggregator handles your information, see AFG’s Privacy Policy at www.afgonline.com.au.