Rail AI, Inc. and its affiliates and subsidiaries (collectively, "Rail AI," "we," "us," or "our") recognize that the privacy of your information is important. When you apply for or obtain a loan or other financial products directly through Rail AI or through one of our Partner Companies, or otherwise communicate with us (collectively, "Services"), we may collect and process certain information about you and your activities in relation to our Services, including information that is considered "personal information" or "personal data" under applicable laws ("Information").
This Privacy Policy (the "Policy") applies to all customers, prospective customers, and borrowers of our Services, including visitors and users of our website (www.tryrail.com and any other website on which this Policy is posted, the "Site") (collectively, "you"). This Policy describes what Information we collect about you, how we use your Information, parties with whom we share your Information, and how we protect your Information. This Policy should be read in conjunction with our Terms of Use, which govern your use of the Site.
Rail AI is a direct lender. Unlike a loan broker or marketplace, Rail AI originates loans using its own capital and balance sheet. We do not broker or refer your application to third-party lenders for funding. We may receive your application data directly from our Partner Companies and use that data to evaluate and originate loans on our own behalf. Accordingly, your Information is used primarily to underwrite, originate, service, and manage your loan directly with Rail AI.
1. Information we collect about you
When you use or interact with our Services, or when a Partner Company submits your information to us, we may collect the following categories of Information about you:
Information you provide to us or we collect directly
When you submit an application or other forms in connection with our Services, use our products, or otherwise communicate with us, you may provide certain Information about yourself. We also may collect information about you in connection with processing your transactions or servicing your loan account. The Information we collect may include:
- Name and contact information — such as your first and last name, mailing or physical address, email address, and telephone number.
- Demographic data — such as your age or date of birth and sex or gender.
- Government-issued identifiers — such as your Social Security Number or other national identification numbers (e.g., passport number), driver’s license number, and taxpayer identification number.
- Financial information — such as your business bank account information, information found in voided checks you may provide (including your business account, routing, and checking number), tax return information, debit/credit card numbers, invoice-related information, and other data required to process orders and transactions.
- Business information — such as business licenses, certificates of good standing, formation documents (e.g., articles of incorporation, operating agreement) and other documentation of your business’s corporate or ownership structure (e.g., list of members, officers, or managers), financial reports and other information relating to your business’s income and gross revenue (e.g., profit and loss statements, income statements, business invoices), entity type, industry, business start date, and personal and business credit history.
- Account information — such as your login credentials to the Rail AI portal (including your username, password, and security questions and answers), your account number, account history, your transactions with us or others (including transaction balances, payment history, overdraft history, and parties to transaction), and contact preferences.
- Professional or employment information — such as your employment information, including the name of your business, your job title or position, and business contact information.
- Video and audio information — such as audio recordings of your calls with our customer service team or voicemails you may leave us.
- Other information — any other Information you may choose to provide, including information you provide when you communicate with us (e.g., contents of your email, text/SMS messages, messages with our chatbots, voicemails, or other communications).
If you wish to use a Service, you may be required to provide us with certain information about your business and business personnel ("Business Information"). Such information may include Personal Information about yourself or your business personnel. If you provide, or make available, any Personal Information about any business personnel, you must first notify them and obtain their consent to disclose such information to us. Your participation in the Service is optional and you at all times have the choice of whether to provide any Personal Information. Please be aware, however, that any failure to provide requested information may preclude your business from being approved to obtain a loan from us.
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
Information we automatically collect
When you use or interact with our Services, we and our service providers automatically collect certain information from your devices through the use of tracking tools, such as cookies, pixels, JavaScript, software development kits ("SDKs"), or web beacons. Such information includes:
- Device information — such as your device ID and type of device, the type of browser and its display settings, your operating system, hardware model, Internet service provider and/or mobile carrier, session start/stop time, time zone, and network connection type.
- Internet or other electronic network activity information — such as your Internet protocol (IP) address, proxy server, unique identifiers, device and application identification numbers, and other information regarding your interaction with our Services.
- Geolocation data — this includes your general location based on your IP address; we do not collect or process precise geo-location data.
- Clickstream data — information regarding your interactions with our Services, including the referring page that linked you to our Services, mouse movements and keystrokes, the pages or content you view or click on, items you download, your search terms on our Services, and other actions you take.
- Log and usage data — service-related, diagnostic, usage, and performance information our servers automatically collect when you access or use our Services, including date/time stamps, pages and files viewed, searches, and device event information.
Information received from Partner Companies
Because Rail AI originates loans through its Partner Companies — businesses that have integrated Rail AI’s lending infrastructure into their platforms — we frequently receive Information about you that has been collected by a Partner Company and transmitted to us for purposes of loan origination and underwriting. Such Information may include any of the categories listed above, as well as:
- Application data — loan application details, requested loan amounts, intended use of proceeds, and supporting documentation submitted through a Partner Company’s platform.
- Platform behavioral data — information about your activity on a Partner Company’s platform that is relevant to our underwriting decision.
- Partner-provided identity verification data — identity verification results or KYC/AML screening data collected by the Partner Company on our behalf.
By submitting an application or otherwise providing your information to a Partner Company whose platform is integrated with Rail AI, you acknowledge and agree that such Partner Company may share your Information with Rail AI for the purposes described in this Policy.
Information from third parties
We also receive Information about you from third parties, including third-party vendors and service providers that perform services for us or on our behalf. Such Information includes:
- Credit information and creditworthiness — such as your credit report, creditworthiness, and credit history that we obtain from credit bureaus to evaluate and originate your loan and to confirm your identity.
- Publicly available information — such as information from public databases, registers, media search results, and other public sources, mailing addresses, job titles, and phone numbers.
- Background information — such as information we may collect in connection with background checks performed in connection with your application.
2. How we use your information
As a direct lender, we use your Information primarily to originate, underwrite, fund, service, and collect on loans. We may use your Information for the following purposes:
- Evaluate and originate your loan — We use your Information to evaluate your application, verify your identity (KYC/AML compliance), determine whether your business qualifies for a loan, set the terms of any loan offer, and originate a loan directly on our balance sheet.
- Underwriting and credit decisioning — We use your Information, including financial data, credit bureau data, and information received from Partner Companies, to make credit decisions, price risk, and determine appropriate loan structures.
- Loan servicing and account management — We use your Information to service your loan account, process payments and disbursements, manage your account on our portal, resolve disputes, and administer collections activities if necessary.
- Provision of our Services — We use your Information to provide, operate, maintain, support, and protect our Services, including account creation, sign-in processes, technical support, and the provision of a customized experience.
- Communications — We use your Information to communicate with you, respond to your inquiries or requests, send service updates, inform you of changes to our policies, request feedback, or keep you informed of updates relating to your loan or our Services.
- Marketing and advertising purposes — We may use your Information (with your consent, where required) to send you promotional materials or market products or services to you.
- Improvement of our Services — We may use your Information to conduct analytics, improve our underwriting models and Services, conduct surveys, test features, and develop new products or capabilities.
- Maintenance of security and integrity — We use your Information to verify your identity, detect, prevent, and respond to fraud or security threats, and maintain the integrity and security of our systems and Services.
- Operate our business — We use your Information to support our internal business functions, including finance, accounting, capital markets, and audit.
- AI tools — We use software applications that incorporate artificial intelligence technology and machine learning ("AI Tools") to provide certain features of our Services, including to support credit decisioning, fraud detection, and underwriting. We may process your Information using these AI Tools and may use your Information to train these tools to improve our Services.
- Protecting our interests — We use your Information when we believe it is necessary to take precautions against liabilities, investigate and defend ourselves against any claims or allegations, investigate potential violations of our policies, protect the security or integrity of our Services, and enforce our rights.
- Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements — We use your Information to detect and prevent fraud, crime, and corruption; investigate violations; fulfill our obligations as a licensed lender under applicable federal and state lending laws; and as otherwise required by law, regulation, or other governmental authority.
5. How we secure your information
The privacy and protection of your personal information is very important to us. We have implemented and utilize administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized access, use, or disclosure of your Information. However, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.
If you create an account on our Services, you must help us prevent unauthorized access to your account by protecting your password appropriately and limiting access to your account. You will be solely responsible for keeping your password confidential and for all use of your password and your account, including any unauthorized use.
6. Data retention
We will retain your Information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies. As a licensed lender, we may also be required to retain certain loan-related records for specified periods under applicable federal and state lending laws (including, without limitation, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Bank Secrecy Act). We may also retain your Information to investigate or defend against potential legal claims.
Retention periods will be determined taking into account the type of information collected (including the sensitivity of the information) and the purpose for which it is collected. We use the following criteria to determine retention periods: (a) as needed to provide our services and products to you and service your loan; (b) as required under applicable lending, banking, and consumer protection regulations; and (c) as needed for auditing purposes, troubleshooting, enforcing our policies, and complying with any legal requirements.
When we have no ongoing legitimate business or legal need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
7. Links to third-party websites
Our Site may contain links to other websites or other online services (such as social media platforms) and may include third-party features such as apps, tools, widgets, and plugins. We are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by these other websites or services, nor the information or content contained therein. When you use a third-party link to go from our Site to the third-party’s website, this Policy is no longer in effect. Your browsing and interaction on the third-party’s website is subject to that website’s own privacy policy. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these third-party websites or services before proceeding.
8. Your rights and choices
Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights regarding your Information:
- Access and updates — You may have the right to access the personal data we hold about you and request correction of your data. If at any time you need to make changes to the Information you have provided us, you may do so by contacting us at info@tryrail.com.
- Deletion — You may have the right to request deletion of your data. Please note that we may be required to retain certain information relating to your loan account under applicable lending laws and regulations even if you request deletion. To exercise this right, contact us using the information provided below.
- Object to or restrict processing — You may have the right to object to or restrict our processing. To exercise this right, contact us using the information provided below.
- Withdraw consent — Where we process your data based on consent, you may have the right to withdraw consent where applicable. To exercise this right, contact us using the information provided below.
- Data portability — You may have the right to request data portability. To exercise this right, contact us using the information provided below.
- Email communications — We may send you promotional emails to offer you products and services that may be of interest to you. You may opt-out of receiving such emails by clicking on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email or by sending an email to info@tryrail.com with "Opt-Out" in the subject line, or a letter by postal mail to the address provided in the "Contact information" section below. You must include your full name and email address. Once we locate your contact information, it will be removed from our mailing lists. Please understand that it may take us a few days to process any opt-out request and that even if you opt-out of receiving promotional emails from us, we may still email you in connection with your loan account, account activity, and other required communications.
- Text/SMS messages — By opting into Rail AI’s Text/SMS Messaging Program, you agree to receive informational and marketing text/SMS messages from Rail AI or Rail AI’s third-party service providers on Rail AI’s behalf. Our communications may include information about any current or future loan applications, accounts, products, or services that you have with or through Rail AI. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. You may elect to no longer receive text/SMS communications by replying "STOP" to any Rail AI text/SMS message you receive. You may also opt-out by contacting us at info@tryrail.com with "Opt-Out" in the subject line. Message & Data rates may apply. Reply HELP for more information. Reply STOP to opt out.
- Browser and device settings — Your browser may tell you how to be notified about certain types of tracking technologies and how to restrict or disable them. To learn more about how to manage cookies on different browsers, you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org. Note that blocking these technologies may prevent you from being able to use all features of our Services. Currently, our Site does not recognize if your browser sends a "do not track" signal or similar mechanism.
- Targeted advertising — We may share your Information with our third-party business partners, such as advertising partners, who may use such information for their own purposes, including to show you relevant or targeted advertising. You can opt-out of targeted advertising via: Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) WebChoices (https://optout.aboutads.info/) and Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) Consumer Opt-Out (https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1).
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@tryrail.com.
9. Notice to borrowers — federal and state lending laws
As a direct lender, Rail AI is subject to various federal and state laws and regulations governing the origination, underwriting, and servicing of loans, including but not limited to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act ("ECOA"), the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"), the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA"), and the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA")/Anti-Money Laundering ("AML") regulations. Our collection, use, and disclosure of your information in connection with your loan is governed in part by these laws.
In particular, please note:
- GLBA — As a financial institution subject to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, we provide a separate Notice of Privacy Practices to our customers that describes how we collect, use, and share nonpublic personal information and your rights to opt out of certain sharing.
- FCRA — We may obtain and use consumer reports and credit information in connection with your loan application and ongoing account management, as permitted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. We may also report information about your loan account to credit reporting agencies.
- ECOA — We do not use your Information to discriminate against you in any credit decision on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because you receive public assistance income.
10. California residents
If you are a California resident, please review our California Privacy Supplement below to learn more about our practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your Information and how you can exercise your rights under California law.
Please note that the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and this disclosure do not apply to information covered by federal and state privacy laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA"), the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), and certain other laws.
11. Minor’s privacy
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services or applying for a loan, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under 18, please contact us at info@tryrail.com.
12. Changes to this policy
We may change this Policy from time to time as our business evolves or as required by law. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Policy and, in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to our website or sending you a notification). If we make material changes to this Policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this Policy regularly to stay informed about our privacy practices and the choices available to you.
13. Contact information
If you have any questions or complaints regarding our privacy practices or this Privacy Policy, please contact us at info@tryrail.com or by postal mail to:
14. California privacy supplement
Personal information we collect
We collect (and may have collected in the last twelve (12) months) the following categories of personal information for the purposes described in the "How we use your information" section of our Privacy Policy:
- Identifiers — your first and last name, postal address, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers.
- California Customer Records categories — name, signature, Social Security number, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)).
- Protected classification characteristics — age or date of birth, sex or gender (under California or federal law).
- Commercial information — loan products applied for or obtained, payment history, and other account histories or tendencies.
- Financial information — bank account details, credit history, tax information, and other financial data provided in connection with a loan application or account.
- Internet or other electronic network activity information — browsing history, search history, information on your interaction with our Services or advertisements.
- Geolocation data — general location information; we do not collect precise geolocation.
- Sensory data — audio, electronic, visual, or similar information (e.g., voicemails, emails, photographs, etc.).
- Professional or employment-related information — job title/position and background check information.
- Inferences — profiles reflecting a person’s creditworthiness, financial behavior, preferences, characteristics, and aptitudes drawn from any of the personal information above.
Certain categories of personal information listed above may be considered sensitive personal information (as defined under the CCPA). We do not collect or use sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you, nor do we use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes other than those as permitted under the CCPA.
Sources of personal information
We collect (and may have collected in the last twelve (12) months) the categories of personal information listed above from the following categories of sources:
- Directly from you
- Our Partner Companies — through whose platforms your loan application was submitted.
- Our affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies in our group
- Vendors and service providers — performing services for us or on our behalf.
- Credit bureaus and credit reporting agencies
- Data analytics providers
- Data brokers — such as background check services.
- Publicly available sources
Disclosure of personal information
We disclose (and may have disclosed in the last twelve (12) months) the categories of personal information listed above for business purposes to the categories of recipients below:
- Affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies in our group
- Vendors and service providers — performing services for us or on our behalf.
- Partner Companies — to the extent necessary to communicate loan status and service accounts.
- Capital markets participants and institutional investors — in connection with loan sales, assignments, or securitizations.
- Credit bureaus and reporting agencies
- Data analytics providers
- Data brokers — such as background check services.
We also may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law, regulation, or legal process; when we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to prevent harm; or in connection with an investigation of suspected or actual unlawful activity.
Additionally, we may share your personal information to third parties if we enter into a business transaction, such as a merger, divestiture, acquisition, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, consolidation, bankruptcy, liquidation, or other sale or transfer of business transaction involving all or part of our company or assets.
Sale or sharing of personal information
We may disclose your personal information (such as automatically collected information about you and your devices by cookies and other tracking technologies) to our third-party business partners, such as advertising partners, who may use such information for their own purposes, including to market products or services to you or show you relevant or targeted advertisements. Such disclosures may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of personal information for cross-contextual behavioral advertising under the CCPA.
We sell or share (and may have sold or shared in the last twelve (12) months) the following categories of personal information to our advertising partners:
- Identifiers
- Commercial information
- Internet or other electronic network activity information
- Inferences drawn from the personal information above
You have the right to opt-out of such disclosures, as detailed below. We do not "sell" or "share" personal information of children under sixteen (16) years of age.
Your CCPA privacy rights
The CCPA provides California residents with specific rights regarding their personal information, subject to certain exceptions. Such rights include:
- Access right — You have the right to access your personal information or receive certain information regarding our processing of your personal information, including the categories of personal information we collect, sources from which we collect it, categories disclosed, sold or shared, and the business or commercial purposes for collection.
- Correction right — You have the right to request that we correct any inaccuracies in the personal information we have collected about you.
- Deletion right — You have the right to request that we delete personal information we collected from you, subject to certain exceptions, including our obligations to retain information under applicable lending and financial services laws.
- Opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information — You have the right to opt-out of the disclosure of your personal information to our third-party business partners who may use such information for their own advertising purposes.
How to exercise your rights
Requests to access, correct, or delete your personal information can be submitted by contacting us at info@tryrail.com. Only you, or a person authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request related to your personal information.
Except where you have provided an agent with a power of attorney pursuant to California Probate Code, when using an authorized agent you must (1) provide the agent with signed permission clearly describing their authority to make a request on your behalf; (2) verify your own identity; and (3) directly confirm that you have provided the authorized agent permission to submit the request. That agent must also be able to verify their identity with us and provide us with their authority to act on your behalf.
The request must include your full name, phone number, address, and Rail AI account number (if applicable). We endeavor to substantively respond to a verifiable consumer request within forty-five (45) days of its receipt. If we require more time (up to another forty-five (45) days), we will inform you of the reason and extension period in writing.
We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights and choices.
Opt-out of "sale" or "share"
To opt-out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, please use the cookie preference tool available on our Site. You may also opt-out by using an opt-out preference signal like the Global Privacy Control ("GPC"). For more information about the GPC, please visit https://globalprivacycontrol.org/.
After you opt-out, you may continue to see advertisements, but they will not be personalized or targeted to you. Your opt-out will be specific to the browser and device you are using to access the Site at the time of your opt-out request. If you clear your browser, or access our Site from another browser or device, you will need to submit another opt-out request.
Other California privacy rights
California’s "Shine the Light" law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact us at info@tryrail.com.
Changes to this Supplement
We may modify or update this Supplement from time to time. We encourage you to revisit this Supplement often to remain fully informed of our privacy practices. You can also contact us at any time to obtain the latest copy of this Supplement.
Contact information
If you have any questions or comments about this Supplement or the ways in which we collect and use your information, your rights regarding such use, or wish to exercise your rights under the CCPA, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@tryrail.com.