Our Commitment to Protecting Your Privacy
Smith Investment Group Pty Ltd (“Smith Investment Group”, “we”, “our” or “us”) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly.
We recognise that your personal information is important and are committed to collecting, storing, using and disclosing it in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and any other applicable Australian laws.
This Privacy Policy explains how Smith Investment Group collects, holds, uses, discloses and protects personal information across the Group.
About Smith Investment Group
Smith Investment Group Pty Ltd is an Australian holding company that owns and operates a number of financial services, lending and technology businesses.
These businesses currently include, but are not limited to:
- Residential.Finance
- Duplex.Loans
- Developer.Loans
- Commercial.Loans
- Vehicle.Lease
- Medico.Loans
- Smith Invest
Smith Investment Group provides governance, compliance, administration, technology, marketing, customer support and operational services to its operating businesses.
Where you interact directly with one of our operating brands, that business may also have its own Privacy Policy which explains how it manages your information in relation to its specific services.
Personal Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect personal information including:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Residential and postal address
- Email address
- Telephone numbers
- Occupation and employment information
- Identification documents
- Financial information
- Banking details
- Property ownership information
- Company and trust information
- Director information
- Credit information
- Transaction history
- Communication preferences
- Website usage information
- IP address
- Device information
- Browser information
- Any other information you voluntarily provide.
Where required to provide financial services, additional information may also be collected to satisfy our legal and regulatory obligations.
Credit Information
Where finance is sought through one of our operating businesses, we may collect and hold credit information as permitted under the Privacy Act.
Credit information may include:
- existing credit facilities
- repayment history
- defaults
- court judgments
- insolvency information
- publicly available credit information
- information obtained from credit reporting bodies.
Credit information is collected solely for legitimate lending, compliance and verification purposes.
Why We Collect Your Personal Information
We collect personal information for purposes including:
- responding to enquiries
- providing products and services
- arranging finance
- assessing loan applications
- verifying identity
- preventing fraud
- complying with legal obligations
- managing customer relationships
- improving our technology platforms
- providing customer support
- conducting quality assurance
- internal administration
- marketing products and services where permitted by law.
We only collect information that is reasonably necessary to perform these functions.
How We Collect Your Information
We may collect information directly from you when you:
- complete online forms
- submit loan enquiries
- complete applications
- upload documents
- communicate with us by phone
- communicate by email
- communicate via live chat
- use our AI assistants
- attend meetings
- correspond with our staff.
We may also collect information from:
- lenders
- mortgage insurers
- valuers
- accountants
- solicitors
- financial advisers
- real estate agents
- employers
- referees
- credit reporting bodies
- government agencies
- publicly available sources
- identity verification providers
- fraud prevention services.
Artificial Intelligence and Voice Services
Smith Investment Group uses modern technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), to improve customer service and operational efficiency.
This may include:
- AI-powered customer support
- conversational assistants
- voice assistants
- automated document preparation
- workflow automation
- intelligent search
- transcription services
- customer enquiry management.
Our AI systems are designed to assist customers and staff. They do not make final lending or credit decisions without appropriate human oversight.
Telephone conversations may be recorded or transcribed for quality assurance, compliance, training, fraud prevention and service improvement.
Phone-Call Records & Your Right to Erasure
Calls answered by our AI receptionist are recorded as a transcript together with any contact details you provide. These records are kept only for a limited retention period and are then deleted automatically. You can also ask us to erase your call records at any time — without needing to speak to a staff member — using our self-service erasure page. You simply verify the phone number or email address we hold for you with a one-time code, and the matching records are permanently deleted.
Website Analytics and Cookies
Our websites may use cookies and similar technologies to improve functionality and user experience.
We may collect information including:
- pages visited
- time spent on our websites
- browser type
- operating system
- referring websites
- approximate location
- device identifiers
- IP address.
We may use analytics and marketing platforms including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager and other similar technologies to improve our services and measure website performance.
You can adjust your browser settings to disable cookies if you choose.
Identity Verification
To comply with Australian law and protect our customers from fraud, we may verify your identity using:
- SMS verification
- email verification
- one-time passwords (OTP)
- government-issued identification
- electronic verification services
- fraud detection services.
Additional verification may be requested where required by law.
Disclosure of Personal Information
We may disclose your information to organisations including:
- lenders
- non-bank financiers
- mortgage insurers
- valuers
- quantity surveyors
- accountants
- solicitors
- financial advisers
- settlement agents
- identity verification providers
- cloud hosting providers
- software providers
- payment providers
- document management providers
- electronic signature providers
- regulators
- law enforcement agencies
- professional advisers
- auditors
- our operating businesses.
We only disclose personal information where it is reasonably necessary to provide our services, where authorised by you, or where required by law.
Overseas Disclosure
Some of our technology providers may securely process information outside Australia.
Where overseas disclosure occurs, we take reasonable steps to ensure those providers maintain privacy protections consistent with Australian privacy laws.
Data Security
Protecting your personal information is a priority.
We employ a range of physical, electronic and administrative safeguards including:
- encrypted data transmission
- secure cloud infrastructure
- access controls
- password protection
- multi-factor authentication
- secure backups
- monitoring systems
- staff training
- confidentiality obligations.
While no electronic system can guarantee absolute security, we take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Direct Marketing
From time to time we may send information regarding products, services or developments that may be of interest.
You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:
- clicking the unsubscribe link within emails;
- contacting us directly; or
- updating your communication preferences.
We will promptly honour all opt-out requests.
Access and Correction
You may request access to the personal information we hold about you.
If any information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, you may request that it be corrected.
We aim to respond to requests within 30 days where reasonably practicable.
Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to:
- provide our services
- satisfy legal obligations
- comply with financial services legislation
- resolve disputes
- enforce agreements
- maintain appropriate business records.
When information is no longer required, it is securely destroyed or permanently de-identified where appropriate.
Complaints
If you believe we have breached your privacy, please contact us first.
We will investigate your complaint promptly and aim to provide a written response within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Technology, legislation and our business continue to evolve. Accordingly, we may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time. The most current version will always be available on our website.
Contact Us
Smith Investment Group Pty Ltd
Australian Credit Licence: 502091
Phone: 1300 330 778
Email: admin@smithinvest.com.au
Website: www.smithinvest.com.au
For privacy enquiries, contact the Group office on 1300 330 778 or email admin@smithinvest.com.au.