Privacy Policy

A Guide to How We Use and Protect Customer Information

Our Pledge to You: At Preferred Credit, we value the trust you have placed in us and we intend to continue to earn your trust each day. That’s why we welcome this opportunity to describe our privacy policies and the steps we take to protect your Customer Information. In this brochure, you will find details about these policies and procedures, as well as the opportunity to choose how your Customer Information may be shared. You’ll also receive updates in the future, so you can continue to stay informed about this important issue.We are committed to protecting your privacy at all times. We do not share Customer Information with outside companies for purposes of selling their products and services to you, unless you have been given the opportunity in advance to decline this option. We maintain security standard and procedures designed to protect Customer Information. We will continue to test and update our technology to improve the protection of our information about you.Behind this pledge is a simple idea. We want you to know that you can count on us to protect the privacy and security of your Customer Information and to provide you with the responsive, professional serve you deserve. The Preferred Credit name has been a trusted symbol of service and reliability for nearly 30 years. We are committed to continuing this proud tradition in the years to come, and to earning your trust and your business every day.

Our Policies Regarding the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Customer Information:

Please refer to the Glossary for the definitions of some important terms we use throughout this brochure.

Information Collection:

The primary reason that we collect and maintain Customer Information is to serve you and administer your customer relationship. This information may be collected from a variety of sources, such as the following:Information you provide to us on applications forms or in conversation, like your income and accounts;Information we receive from an outside company, such as a credit bureau, providing your credit history or employment verification.Information Use and Disclosure: We use and share Customer Information for a variety of reasons, including the following:

To protect you.

The information we maintain about your customer relationship helps us identify you and helps prevent unauthorized persons from accessing your information, or your accounts or services.

To provide superior service.

Your Customer Information allows us to respond quickly and efficiently to your needs.

To tell you about new or enhanced financial services.

By understanding your relationship, we can better meet your needs and determine your eligibility for other Preferred Credit services that could be of value to you. For example, if we know that you own your home, we might offer you an opportunity to refinance your mortgage.

To improve and develop our products and services.

Every product or service we offer is designed to reflect the ways our customers actually use their accounts. This is the reason why we collect and analyze information about customer activity and history, and how we tailor new services to meet your needs. Within the Preferred Credit family, we may share the Customer Information we collect (described in the Information Collection section) with administrative and service units that perform functions such as servicing your accounts or preparing your account statements. When it comes to sharing information outside the Preferred Credit Family, we so only for specific purposes. We may disclose Customer Information to the following types of outside companies or parties: Non-financial companies, including companies that perform services on our behalf, such as check printers, companies that prepare accounts statements and letters, or companies that help us market our own products to you or companies holding a vested interest in your account performance such as the original seller in a retail installment sales contract that we have purchased or a commercial lender holding a security interest in these contracts. We do not share Customer Information with outside companies for the purpose of marketing non-financial products or services of those companies, unless you have been given the opportunity in advance to decline this option. Some state laws impose separate requirements before we can disclose particular types of information about customers in those states to outside parties for certain marketing programs or other purposes.Information Disclosed to Outside Non-financial Companies and Independent Contractors: When outside parties perform services on our behalf, in some instances we may disclose some or all of the information that we collect, as described in the Information Collection section. This information may be provided to certain non-financial companies and independent contractors for the purposes of servicing your account or to perform marketing or similar services on our behalf with respect to products or services we provide. These companies and contractors are subject to confidentiality provisions and restrictions that prohibit using the information beyond the performance of the specified services on our behalf.

Information Disclosed to Outside Parties in Other Situations:

We also disclose certain Customer Information to government agencies, consumer reporting agencies and other outside parties as permitted or required by the Federal Privacy Act and other applicable laws. These disclosures are made for specific, limited purposes, such as to verify individuals’ identities (reducing fraud and identity theft), to meet customer service expectations, to verify information for prompt credit approvals (meeting customers’ immediate financial needs), or to make certain information a matter of public record (recording mortgages to let prospective buyers, title insurers, and other know about property liens).Our Policies Regarding the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Information about Former Customers: Policies and practices regarding the collection and disclosure of information about former customers are the same as those regarding the collection and disclosure about existing customers (see the section titled Our Policies Regarding the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Customer Information) for a period of time after a customer relationship ends. Our information about former customers, however, is used less and less over time after the relationship ends and eventually is removed from our records.

Information Confidentiality and Security / Information confidentiality and Protection Practices:

As we described in our Pledge to you, Preferred Credit is committed to preventing others from unauthorized access to your Customer Information, and we maintain procedures and technology designed for this purpose. We take several steps to protect the Customer Information we have about you, including the following: We update and test our technology on a regular basis in order to improve the protection of Customer Information. We require outside companies and independent contractors to whom we provide Customer Information for marketing, servicing or processing purposes to enter into a confidentiality agreement that restricts the use of information to those purposes and prohibits independent use of the information. We have internal procedures that limit access to Customer Information, such as procedures that require an employee to have a business need to access Customer Information. We maintain policies about proper physical security of workplaces and records. Our physical,, electronic, and procedural safeguards comply with federal regulations regarding the protection of Customer Information.

Information Integrity Measures:

At Preferred Credit, we work hard to ensure that the Customer Information we maintain is complete and accurate. We have procedures and processes for updating our Customer Information as well as removing old information. We protect the integrity of Customer Information about you through measures such as maintaining backup copies of account data in the event of power outages or other business interruptions, using computer virus detection and eradication software on systems containing customer data, installing computer hardware and software, and employing other technical means (known as "firewalls") to protect against unauthorized computer entry into systems containing Customer Information.

Glossary:

"We," "us" and "our" mean Preferred Credit, Inc. "Federal Privacy Act" means the privacy provisions in Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and also includes the applicable federal privacy regulations issued under that Act. "Customer Information" means our personally identifiable financial information about a consumer that is considered "non-public personal information" within the meaning of the Federal Privacy Act. "Preferred Credit Family" means the financial institutions, companies, and other entities that are considered affiliates of Preferred Credit, Inc. within the meaning of the Federal Privacy Act. This definition is broader than the Preferred Credit, Inc. referred to as "we", "us" and "our" above. "Outside Parties" or "Outside Companies" means third parties that are not within the Preferred Credit Family, except for joint employees and others who are defined as non-affiliated third parties under the Federal Privacy Act. "Financial Products and Services" means those products and services defined as a financial product or service under the Federal Privacy Act and applicable regulations and interpretations issued under that Act. "Consumer" means an individual who obtains or has obtained a financial product or service from us that is to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes (or that individual’s legal representative) within the meaning of the Federal Privacy Act.Customer Choice Regarding Information Sharing As described in this brochure, we are committed to protecting Customer Information, and to using or sharing it in ways that will improve or expand upon the services we provide to you. We also want you to know that as a Preferred Credit customer, you have choices about how your Customer Information may be shared. Please be assured that you may exercise the choices at any time. In addition, if you have opted out of information sharing previously, it is not necessary to do so again.

With Outside Companies (Option 1)

As described earlier, we may share limited Customer Information under special agreements with outside financial service providers in order to offer you financial products that we typically do not offer ourselves. Some of this information helps to ensure that you will receive those communications that are most likely to match your needs or situation. If you prefer that we not share this information about you with these financial service providers for theses purposes you may choose to opt out. This means that you may direct us at any time not to disclose this information to these outside providers for marketing purposes. If you wish to opt out of this type of sharing, simply notify us as described and your request will be honored.

Within the Preferred Credit Family (Option 2)

As we have described, the companies within the Preferred Credit Family share some information about you among themselves to determine your eligibility for products and services to be offered to you. This helps us meet your financial needs and offer the right products and services to you. If you prefer that we don’t share your personal and credit-related information with other companies within the Preferred Credit family for these purposes, you may choose to opt out. You may direct us not to disclose this information to other Preferred Credit financial institutions to determine your eligibility for their products and services. If you wish to opt out of this type of sharing, simply notify us as described in this brochure at any time and your request will be honored by all banks and companies within the Preferred Credit Family. In accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, whether or not you have opted out, we may share identifying information and information about your transaction and experiences within the Preferred Credit Family.Additional Information About These ChoicesWe are committed to meeting your financial needs, We want you to know that, regardless of any opt out choice you make, there may be occasions when we will simply ask you if you wish your information to be shared.