Business Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Branch Messenger, Inc., a Delaware corporation ("Branch", "our", "us", or "we") respects your privacy. We are committed to protecting the privacy of our users while providing a personalized and valuable service.  With that in mind, we have created this Branch Business Privacy Policy (or “Policy”) to help you understand how and describe our practices regarding our collection and use of your Company Information (as defined below) when you use the Branch Service and to inform you of our data collection practices. This Policy applies to the collection, use, storage, and processing of the Company Information of individuals and businesses (“Commercial End User(s)”) in connection with transactions conducted through the Website, our mobile app, or any other component of the Branch Service for commercial purposes. This Policy does not apply to information received from individuals who seek or obtain financial products or services from us for personal, family, or household purposes.  Such information is governed by Branch’s Consumer Privacy Policy found at https://www.branchapp.com/legal/privacy. 

2. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may change or update this Policy periodically.  When we do, we will notify you of any material changes as required by law by appropriate means which may include, but are not limited to, posting the revised Policy on our website and/or sending notice to an email or approved communication device pursuant to our Electronic Consumer Consent, found here: https://www.branchapp.com/legal/comm.  Any changes to this Policy will become effective when posted unless indicated otherwise.

3. Our Service and Your Consent to this Privacy Policy

Branch operates the Branch Website www.branchapp.com (the “Website”) and the Branch App, through which businesses can access a “Branch Account”, Branch Mastercard Debit Card (“Branch Card”) and certain banking services and products (collectively, the “Branch Service'' or “Service”). For the purposes of this Policy, “Branch App'' includes the following applications: 1) the Branch App, 2) the Paymint by SnapCare App, 3) the Nursa Direct App, and 3) any other application controlled by Branch for Commercial End Users. The Mastercard business debit cards and related banking services are offered by Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC (“Evolve”), as card issuer and depository.  Our Terms of Service (available at http://www.branchapp.com/legal/terms), contain more detail about the Branch Service that are available to you.By using the Branch Service, you agree to this Policy and consent to the collection and use of your Company Information in accordance with this Policy. If you do not consent to these terms, do not use the Website, mobile app, or any other component of the Branch Service. This is our entire and exclusive Privacy Policy for Business Accounts and it supersedes any earlier version.

4. What is Company Information?

For purposes of this Policy, “Company Information” means any information about a Commercial End User from which the Commercial End User could be identified, whether obtained directly from the Commercial End User or from another source. Company Information may include, but is not limited to: (a) company name; (b) physical address, including street name and name of city or town; (c) email address or other electronic contact information; (d) telephone number; (e) tax identification number; (f) bank or card account number; (g) financial statements; (h) information about officers, directors, and other control persons; and (i) any other information from or about a Commercial End User. However, the following is not considered Company Information: (a) aggregated or anonymous information that does not identify a customer and (b) information that Branch or Evolve obtains from a public source (or knows to be available from a public source).

1. What Company Information Does Branch Collect?

We obtain Company Information about you in various ways, such as when you visit our Website or use the mobile app, when you use your Branch card, Branch account or any other Branch Service. We also may obtain Company Information about you in other ways, such as when you call, mail, email us, or engage with us through the Branch App or chat features.The types of Company Information we obtain may include:

1. Company Contact Data, such as name, telephone number, and postal and email address;
2. Account Credentials, such as password, unique customer identification numbers, and other information for authentication and account access;
3. Commercial End User Identity Data, such as your date of birth, Tax Identification Number (TIN), or your Social Security Number (SSN), copies of your passport, driver’s license, other other national ID, any information captured on such ID (such as facial images/photographs) or through our ID verification process (including ID verification results), and device fingerprinting;
4. Financial Data, including bank account information, routing and account numbers, debit card information, and transaction data;
5. Transaction Data, including information associated with your use of Branch Service such as ACH transfers, and debit card transactions;
6. Communication and Online Content, including content within any messages you send to us (such as when you contact support or ask a question);
7. Commercial User Demographic information, such as age, date of birth, employment information, marital status, sex, gender, and military or veteran status;
8. Vendor Data, such as Google Analytics and other entities that perform services on our behalf;
9. Geographic Location Data, such as information based on services you request (e.g., helping you locate the nearest ATM);
10. Marketing Data, such as your contact preferences;
11. Telephone Carrier Data, such as network status, customer type, billing type, mobile device identifiers (IMSI and IMEI), and other subscriber status details;
12. Other information you choose to provide, such as through our “Contact Us” feature, emails or other communications, social media pages, surveys, registrations and sign-up forms;
13. Publicly Available Data, such as from social media services;
14. Automated Data, such as cookies and web beacons;
15. Device Data, such as device type, mobile operating system, identifiers, settings, configurations, IP addresses, battery and signal strength, usage statistics, dates and times of usage, actions taken on the app, and other information regarding the use of the app.  
16. Anonymized and aggregated data. To improve, analyze, and market the Branch Service, Branch may transform Company Information into deidentified or anonymized information which cannot be used to identify you and by aggregating or combining deidentified data with other information.

Your device’s operating platform may provide you with a notification when the app attempts to collect your precise geolocation. Please note that if you decline to allow Branch App to collect your precise geolocation, you may not be able to use all of the app’s features (like locating ATM locations near you).  We do not control or supervise how third-party sources process your Company Information, and any request that you have regarding the disclosure of your Company Information from them to us should be made directly to those third parties (such as Meta or LinkedIn).

2. How Does Branch Obtain Your Information?

Branch obtains your information in the following ways:

1. From You.  You provide information to us when you use the Branch Service, for example you provide us with your identity and contact information in order to open an account.
2. From Your Devices. Your device automatically provides us with information about your device in order to facilitate your use of the Service.  Your devices may prompt you to share data with Branch when you access certain services like our ATM locator.
3. From Our Partners. Branch receives information from Evolve, your workplace or wherever you are providing services, and other partners to facilitate the Service.
4. Third Party Sources.some text
   1. Public Sources, such as public records, social media platforms, and other publicly available sources.
   2. Data Providers, such as information services or data licensors.
   3. Government Sources, such as regulators, consumer protection agencies, and any other institutions through which you may request resolution to any issues you may encounter. 

3. How Does Branch Use Your Information?

Branch uses Company Information to provide you with reliable and secure Branch  Services.  This may require us to use your Company Information for a number of legitimate business purposes, including without limitation, one of the purposes described below:

1. Providing the Branch Service.  We may use one of more categories of Company Information we collect to facilitate your transactions and otherwise provide the Branch Service.  
2. Improving and developing the Branch Service. We may use certain Company Information we collect to understand how you use the Branch Service, and how we can improve it. We also use CompanyInformation to analyze trends and performance to identify future opportunities for the development, promotion, and improvement of the Branch Services. We also use analytics services, such as Google Analytics, to help us understand how users access and use the Branch Services.
3. Securing the Service and Fraud Detection. Branch processes and analyzes Company Information we collect for the purposes of maintaining the safety and security of our systems, the Branch Website, the Branch App, and the Branch Service, including identifying and troubleshooting problems with the Branch Service, investigating suspicious activity, detecting potentially fraudulent or unauthorized transactions, enforcing our terms and policies, and in protecting the rights of Branch, our customers, and those we all do business with.
4. Providing Customer Support. Branch processes Company Information we collect to verify your identity and to provide customer care and support services, including to help us respond to your inquiries, advise you about account features, resolve issues with your Branch Card or Branch Account and to otherwise, improve the quality of Branch Services. We also use this information to provide appropriate training to Branch staff and contractors. Please note, we may use automated chat capabilities where you may be interacting with a bot rather than a person for appropriate questions.
5. Sending Administrative Communications. Branch may use your information to send you information related to the Branch Service, such as confirmations, technical notices, service updates, security alerts, and support, onboarding, and administrative messages.
6. Sending Marketing Communications. Branch may use your information, including marketing analytics, to advertise and promote the Branch Service by phone, text, email, or chat, and additional products and services from our partner companies, according to your marketing preferences. .  
7. Complying with Legal Obligations. Branch may use Company Information to fulfill Branch’s legal and regulatory obligations, including, without limitation:some text
   1. to cooperate with public and government authorities, courts or regulators in accordance with applicable laws;
   2. to protect against, investigate, and deter fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity;
   3. to protect Branch’s legal rights, pursue remedies available to us, and limit our damages;
   4. to protect against misuse or abuse of the Service;
   5. to protect personal or public property or safety;
   6. to comply with judicial proceedings, court orders or legal processes; or
   7. to respond to lawful requests.
8. With Notice to You and Your Consent. Branch may also use Company Information after providing notice to you of the intended use and obtaining your consent. 

In using your Company Information, we may share some or all of it with authorized representatives of Evolve, your workplace, and other entities that you may designate whose activities relate to the Branch Service without seeking your consent. Please refer to “Who Does Branch Share Your Information With?” Section of this Policy below for a full description of our information sharing practices.

4. Who Does Branch Share Your Information With?

Branch does not sell or share Company Information we collect about you with third parties, except as set for below:

1. Evolve Bank & Trust (“Evolve”).  Evolve is Branch’s Bank Partner.  Branch shares Company Information it collects with Evolve in order to enable it to issue a debit  account to the primary accountholder, open a sub-ledger account at Evolve, verify your identity, and other operational services.  As the card issuer and depository bank, Evolve has a direct contractual relationship with the primary accountholder through the cardholder agreement that accompanies the account and card.  Evolve engages us as a service provider in the capacity as the program manager for the debit card program, and we are responsible for marketing, distribution, and operation of the debit card program.  In order to understand your rights in connection with information gathered by, processed, and shared by Evolve, see Evolve’s privacy policy available at http://www.getevolved.com/privacy-policy/. 
2. Your workplace or wherever you are providing services.  In using your Company information, we may share some or all of it with authorized representatives of your workplace or wherever you are providing services.  
3. Plaid, Inc. (“Plaid”). Branch uses Plaid’s open banking interface to complete your requests by inputting your online banking credentials instead of full bank account and routing numbers.  By using the Branch Service, you grant us and Plaid the right, power, and authority to act on your behalf to access and transmit your financial information from the relevant financial institution. You agree to your information being transferred, stored, and processed by Plaid in accordance with the Plaid Privacy Policy, found here https://plaid.com/legal. If you decide not to use the Plaid service to verify your bank account, you will have the option to perform a manual verification of your bank account using other processes that we provide for this purpose.
4. Other Service Providers. Branch shares your Company Information with selected outside companies to assist us in providing you with the Branch Service. Branch cannot offer the Branch Service without sharing your Company Information with these service providers. Branch’s other service providers include, but are not limited to, Amazon, Apple, and Google, as well as insurance companies and other professional advisors.
5. Third Party Processors. Branch shares your Company Information with third party processors who act on our behalf to provide our Services and to help with operations on our behalf (“Processors”). Processors provide us with technical support, give us additional data about you, and to perform analytics and other work that we may need to outsource. These Processors are bound by law and/or contract to protect the confidentiality and security of your Company Information.  They only process your Company Information to provide requested services for us.  
6. Legal Obligations and Regulatory Agencies. Branch may disclose any or all categories of your Company Information where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. 
7. Our Professional Advisors. Branch may disclose all such categories of your Company Information to our professional advisers as is reasonably necessary for the purposes of managing risks, obtaining professional advice, or the establishment, exercise or defense of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure. Further, we may share some or all of your Company Information in connection with or during negotiation of any merger or similar transaction involving sale or transfer of some or all of our business or assets. If another company acquires our company or assets, that company will possess the Company Information collected by us and will assume the rights and obligations regarding your Company Information as described in this Privacy Policy.

5.  Retention of Company Information

We retain information we collect about you, and use the following factors to determine the retention period of Company Information:

1. to maintain an ongoing relationship with you as a customer, member, or business contact (for example, when you are a recipient of any of our Services).
2. to perform under applicable terms and services to which you agreed.
3. as necessary in connection with the lawful purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
4. to comply with applicable laws
5. to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.

6.  Security

To help protect the privacy of your Company Information collected by us, we maintain reasonable physical, technical, and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. For security of data, we use the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol for data in transit, which encrypts all information you send to us electronically. The encryption process protects your information, by scrambling it before it is sent to us from your computer or mobile device. Once we receive your transmission, we make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure its security on our system by using industry grade 256-bit encryption algorithms. We also restrict access to your Company Information to those employees who need to know that information in order to provide the Branch Service to you. In addition, we train our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information. Despite the actions and precautions we take, no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of your Company Information.

7.  How to Contact Us. 

If you have questions about our privacy practices and this Policy, or if you wish to correct any of your information or exercise your rights under the law or this Policy, you can contact us as follows: By email: support@branchapp.comBy phone: 1 (866) 547-2413By mail:  Branch Messenger, Inc. Attn: Legal 2261 Market Street STE 5936 San Francisco, CA 94114

Please be specific when telling us what your request is.