Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Wessex Community Bank is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, and protect your personal information in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Data Controller

Wessex Community Bank is the data controller responsible for the processing of your personal data. If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us at info@wessexcb.org telephone 02392827980.

3. Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following data about you:

  • Personal Identification Information: Name, date of birth, gender, contact details (address, email, phone number).

  • Financial Information: Bank account details, income, employment status, and history.

  • Credit Information: Information related to your creditworthiness and credit history.

  • Transactional Information: Details of transactions carried out through our services.

  • Address History: Both past and present addresses, even those not provided directly by you.

  • Personal Credit Data: Details about how, when and if you pay back your current credit arrangement and information on Court applications such as County Court Judgements, Individual Voluntary Arrangements or Debt Relief Orders.

4. Use of Your Information

We use your information for the following purposes:

  • To assess and process your application for financial products and services.

  • To manage your accounts and provide you with the services you request.

  • To conduct credit and affordability checks, including searches with credit reference agencies.

  • To prevent and detect fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes.

  • To comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  • To communicate with you about your account or our services.

 5. Applying for and Obtaining Credit

When you apply for credit with Wessex Community Bank, we will:

  • Conduct a thorough assessment of your application, which may include credit searches and affordability checks.

  • Credit search any address associated with you, even if you do not provide us with that address.

  • We will normally credit search any address that is associated with you, even if you do not provide us with the address.


We may access the following information about you:

  • past and present loans and whether you have kept up repayments

  • past and present credit cards and whether you have kept up repayments

  • past and present address history (even if you don’t tell us some addresses)

  • if you have ever had a County Court Judgement (CCJ)

  • if you have ever had a Debt Relief Order (DRO)

  • if you have ever had an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

  • if you have ever been bankrupt

If you provide false or misleading information we will decline your application and we may also send information to credit reference agencies about any false information you gave us. They can make this information available to other organisations to help them make decisions about you. This might affect you getting credit elsewhere.

6. Sharing Data with Credit Reference Agencies

We may share your information with credit reference agencies (CRAs) such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This may include:

  • Information regarding your application, creditworthiness, and financial standing.

  • Data about your payment history and any defaults on your account.

  • Your past and present address history.

CRAs may record this information and share it with other organizations to assist them in making decisions about credit, insurance, and other services. The information we share may also be used by CRAs to help detect and prevent fraud and money laundering.

7. Sharing Data with Fraud Prevention Agencies

To protect against fraud and financial crime, we may share your personal data with fraud prevention agencies (FPAs). This information may include:

  • Your personal identification details.

  • Details of your financial transactions.

  • Information related to any suspected or confirmed fraudulent activity.

FPAs may use this data to prevent fraud and money laundering by other individuals or organizations. The data we share may also be used by law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of criminal activities.

8. Sharing Data with Third-Party Organizations

We may share your information with third-party organizations, including but not limited to:

  • Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion: For credit reporting and creditworthiness assessment.

  • Contis Financial Services: For payment processing and account management services.

These organizations may use your data to provide services to us and to you, and to comply with their legal and regulatory obligations. We ensure that these third parties adhere to strict data protection and confidentiality obligations.

9. Marketing

As part of your membership, we also collect personal information to keep you up-to-date with our products or services. We do this:

  • to tell you about things you’ve asked us to tell you about

  • to contact you if we need to obtain or provide additional information

  • to check our records are right and to check every now and then that you’re happy and satisfied

We don't rent or trade email lists with other organisations and businesses. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen

10. Data Retention

We will retain your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. This period will vary depending on the nature of your relationship with us and the legal obligations we must comply with.

11. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

  • Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you.

  • Rectification: You have the right to request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

  • Erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances.

  • Restriction: You have the right to request the restriction of processing of your personal data.

  • Data Portability: You have the right to request a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

  • Objection: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain situations, including for direct marketing purposes.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@wessexcb.org.

12. Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on our website, and where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back regularly to see any updates or changes.

14. Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how your personal data is processed, please contact us at:

15. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
https://ico.org.uk/
Tel: 0303 123 1113