Privacy & Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 Ramsdens Financial Limited ("we", "us", "our") are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. The privacy policy ("Policy") (together with our terms of use and any other documents referred to in it) sets out the basis on which any personal information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be used and shared by us. In this Policy, references to "you" or "your" shall mean you as a user of www.ramsdensforcash.co.uk, www.ramsdensgoldbuying.co.uk, www.ramsdenspawnbrokers.co.uk, www.ramsdensjewellery.co.uk, www.ramsdensplc.com (our "websites") and /or a customer of our services (our "services"). Please read the following carefully to understand how we will use your personal information.

2. About us

2.1 Under the terms of the UK General Data Protection Regulation, Ramsdens Financial Limited are a data controller registered with the Information Commissioners Office under registration number Z6066000. Our registered office address is Unit 16, The Parkway Centre, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, TS8 0TJ.

2.2 If you have any questions concerning your personal information or any queries with regard to our processing please contact our data protection lead at informationsecurity@ramsdensfinancial.co.uk

3. Collecting your personal information

3.1 We may collect personal information:

(a) directly from you when you provide it to us when you make an application or by filling in a form on our website. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our website where registration is required, subscribing to our services, posting material on our website or requesting further services;

(b) if you contact us, for example, to make a complaint or to report a problem with our website, we may keep a record of that correspondence;

(c) through the transactions that you carry out through our website and through the fulfilment of your orders;

(d) from public records and other third parties where we have your permission to do so;

(e) through the use of our website, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, whether this is required for our own billing purposes or otherwise and the resources that you access;

(f) through your computer, including where available by collecting your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration and to report aggregate information to our advertisers. This is statistical data about our users' browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual;

(g) if you make a telephone call to our Head Office (please note that calls are recorded for training and security purposes);

(h) through Google Analytics, which collects and uses data from our company websites so we can track visitor's data.

(i) through our use of User Analytics software which helps us to better understand the customer journey on our website which includes, but is not limited to, session heatmaps and recordings; and

(j) when visiting our premises via CCTV (images which are held for a minimum of 15 days are only used where a crime has been committed or suspected of being committed and shared with law enforcement as the only third party for the purposes crime detection or prevention)

4. Personal information collected

4.1 When you register to use our website and/or services we may ask you to provide certain information such as your name, address, date of birth, email address, contact number, employment information, and bank account details.

4.2 The provision of some of the above information is mandatory if you are to receive certain of our services. If you fail to provide such personal information we shall be unable to provide certain services.

5. Uses of your personal information

5.1 We may use personal information help about you in the following ways:

(a) to manage your account;

(b) to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us;

(c) to prevent fraud and money laundering;

(d) to provide you with information about products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes. You will be able to opt-out of such communications at any time by following the instructions in section 13 of this Policy;

(e) to ensure that content from our website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;

(f) to allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so; and

(g) to notify you about changes to our services.

6. Legal basis for using your personal information

6.1 We will only use your personal information where it is permitted by law and where:

(a) we need to use your personal information to perform a contract with you;

(b) we need to use your personal information to comply with our legal obligations; and

(c) it is in our interests and there is no disadvantage to you or risk to your personal information.

7. Sharing your personal information

7.1 We will share your personal information with:

(a) service providers and third party partners who process and store data on our behalf,

(b) any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, as defined in section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

7.2 We may also share your personal information with third parties:

(a) if we sell any business or assets, in which case we may disclose your personal information to the prospective buyer of such business or assets;

(b) if we or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal information held by us about our customers will be one of the transferred assets;

(c) if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation;

(d) in order to enforce or apply our terms of use or terms and conditions of supply and other agreements; and

(e) to protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

7.3 We may also share your personal information with credit reference agencies for the purpose of assessing your credit score where we are seeking to recover an unpaid debt. For further information about the use of your personal information by credit reference agencies, please visit http://www.experian.co.uk/crain/index.html You have a legal right to obtain details of those credit reference agencies from whom we obtain and to whom we pass information about you. For further information about the use or your personal information by credit reference agencies, please contact us using the details located at section 15 of this Policy.

8. Automated decision-making

8.1 In certain circumstances, we may use your personal information in automated processes to make decisions about you, such as how much we are willing to lend to you. We might also use automated processes to create a profile of you. We do this to help ensure decisions are made accurately, fairly and efficiently. For more information about how we use automated decision-making, please contact us using the details located at section 15 of this Policy.

9. Transferring your personal information outside of the UK

9.1 The personal information that we collect from you will be stored within the European Economic Area ("EEA"). If we need to transfer your personal information outside of the EEA to countries where data protection laws may not provide the same level of protection as those in the EEA, we shall ensure that any such transfers are lawful and that your personal information is kept secure.

9.2 Please be aware that if you utilise the Western Union service using a Ramsdens branch then the personal information collected may be stored at a location outside of the EEA. By submitting your personal information, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Policy

10. Keeping your personal information secure

10.1 All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted using SSL technology. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

10.2 Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our website, any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your personal information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

11. Retention of your personal information

11.1 We only keep your personal information for as long as we need to for the purposes we have set out above. We will retain your personal information for a maximum period of six years unless a longer period is required by law. Further information about how long we keep your personal data is available from our data protection lead officer on request.

12. Your rights

Data protection laws give you a number of rights as set out below. If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact us using the details at section 15 of this Policy.

Right to be informed: We will provide you with information including: our purposes for processing your personal data, the retention periods for that personal data, and who it will be shared with.

Right to access your personal information: you may request access to a copy of your personal information. Please make all requests for access to customerfeedback@ramsdensfinancial.co.uk, in branch or by telephone into Ramsdens Customer Services.

Right to rectification: you may ask us to rectify any inaccurate information we hold about you. If you would like to update the personal information we hold about you, please contact us.

Right to erasure: you may ask us to delete your personal information. If you would like us to delete the personal information we hold about you, please contact us, specifying why you would like us to delete your personal information.

Right to portability: you may ask us to provide you with the personal information that we hold about you in a structured, commonly used, machine readable format, or ask for us to send such personal information to another data controller.

Right to restriction: you can ask us to restrict the personal information we use about you where you have asked for it to be erased or where you have objected to our use of it.

Right to object: you may object to our processing of your personal information pursuant to this Policy. Please contact us, providing details of your objection.

Right in relation to automated decision making and profiling: You shall have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling,

if you have given us consent to use your personal information to send you marketing, you can withdraw your consent at any time.

13. Communicating with you

13.1 Where you have consented to receive communications, we may contact you via SMS text message or by e-mail. You can unsubscribe at any time following the instructions below:

(a) E-mail - please click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our e-mails.

(b) SMS text message - please text RAMSTOP to 60777. Please note that we will not charge you for this message, however you may incur a charge via your network provider. Alternatively, if you wish to opt out of electronic communications at any point, you can e-mail customerservices@ramsdensfinancial.co.uk and we will update your preferences.

14. Changes to this Policy

14.1 Any changes we may make to our Policy in the future will be posted on our website and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.

14.2 This Policy was last updated on 11th March 2022

15. Contact Us

15.1 If you have any questions relating to this Policy, our website or our services or wish to exercise any of your rights, please direct your enquires as follows:

(a) Enquiries about the Policy and your data:

informationsecurity@ramsdensfinancial.co.uk. If we cannot resolve your enquiry or complaint about our use of your data, you may make a complaint to the UK supervisory authority, which is the Information Commissioner's Office, by visiting their website at www.ico.org.uk, by phoning 0303 123 1113 (local rate) / 01625 545 745 (national rate), or by writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

(b) Enquiries about our website and our services:

customerservices@ramsdensforcash.co.uk or write to us at Ramsdens Financial Limited, Unit 16, The Parkway Centre, Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough TS8 0TJ. Please note that email will be acknowledged within 24 hours, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm. Emails sent on a weekend or bank holiday will not be picked up until the following working day. If we cannot resolve your enquiry or complaint about our website or our services, you may also contact the Financial Ombudsman Service by writing to Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR or by calling 0800 023 4567 for consumer credit products only.

16. Use of cookies

16.1 Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.

16.2 Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website. Cookies are then sent back to the originating website on each subsequent visit, or to another website that recognises that cookie.

16.3 Cookies are useful because they allow a website to recognise a user’s device.

16.4 Cookies do lots of different jobs, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, and generally improve the user experience. They can also help to ensure that adverts you see online are more relevant to you and your interests. The cookies used on this website have been categorised based on the categories found in the ICC UK Cookie guide. A list of all the cookies used on this website by category is set out below, and then some details of the actual cookies on the site, their purpose, and what to do if you do not consent to any specific cookies being used. Please note however that since we only use cookies where they will be of benefit, any failure to consent may limit your use of this site.

This site uses cookies to provide and improve your shopping experience, which may include showing personalised content to you based on your on-site behaviour.

(a) Category 1: Strictly necessary cookies: These cookies enable services you have specifically asked for.

These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies services you have asked for, like shopping baskets or e-billing, cannot be provided.

(b) Category 2: Performance Cookies: These cookies collect anonymous information on the pages visited.

These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how a website works.

(c) Category 3: Functionality Cookies: These cookies remember choices you make to improve your experience.

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, a website may be able to provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing in a cookie the region in which you are currently located. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

16.5 You may be able to block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon you visit our website.

16.6 If you do not agree to cookies being placed, please notify us of the cookies to which you do not agree to. Except for essential cookies, all cookies will expire after twelve months.

16.7 Please see the table below for a list of the cookies used on our website:

Cookie name	Purpose
_ga	This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports.
_gid	Used to store and update a unique value for each page visited.
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress	This cookie is used to detect the first pageview session of a user. This is a True/False flag set by the cookie.
_hjFirstSeen	This is set to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether this was the first time Hotjar saw this user. It is used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions.
_hjid	Hotjar cookie that is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the Hotjar User ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
_hjIncludedInSessionSample	This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that user is included in the data sampling defined by your site's daily session limit.
_hjTLDTest	When the Hotjar script executes we try to determine the most generic cookie path we should use, instead of the page hostname. This is done so that cookies can be shared across subdomains (where applicable). To determine this, we try to store the _hjTLDTest cookie for different URL substring alternatives until it fails. After this check, the cookie is removed.
_uetsid	This is a cookie utilised by Microsoft Bing Ads and is a tracking cookie. It allows us to engage with a user that has previously visited our website.
_uetvid	This is a cookie utilised by Microsoft Bing Ads and is a tracking cookie. It allows us to engage with a user that has previously visited our website.
tms_VisitorID	This cookie is used to identify each shopper and attributes site interactions to them. The cookie is set to expire after 80 weeks, which is extended each time the shopper visits the site. If they don't return to the site within that period, the cookie will be automatically deleted.
tms_wsip	This is a housekeeping cookie set to expire after 30 minutes and works in conjunction with the tms_VisitorID cookie to capture shopper activity.

If you do not consent to cookies being placed, you must notify us of the cookies to which you do not consent.

Except for essential cookies, all cookies will expire after twelve months.

Hotjar

We use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimize this service and experience. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users’ experience (e.g. how much time they spend on which pages, which links they choose to click, what users do and don’t like, etc.) and this enables us to build and maintain our service with user feedback. Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices. This includes a device's IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), and the preferred language used to display our website. Hotjar stores this information on our behalf in a pseudonymized user profile. Hotjar is contractually forbidden to sell any of the data collected on our behalf.

For further details, please see the ‘about Hotjar’ section of Hotjar’s support site.

Targeted Facebook Advertising

We collect information about your online activities on our website(s) www.ramsdensforcash.co.uk and www.ramsdensjewellery.co.uk to provide you with targeted advertisements on third party ad network Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads) – from which you can chose to opt out.

Through targeted Facebook advertising, we can target our messaging to users through demographic, interest-based and contextual means. We may also use our own cookies to serve you relevant advertising. However if you would like to turn this service off, you can manage cookies in your browser settings.

We can track your online activities over time by collecting information through automated means, including through the use of third-party cookies and pixels. Facebook uses this information to show you advertisements that may be tailored to your individual interests. The information Facebook may collect on our behalf includes data about your visit to their website, such as the pages or advertisements you view and the actions you take. This data collection takes place on our website(s), tracking tools such as Google Analytics and on Facebook. This process helps us track the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.