Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how FinChat Hub ("FinChat Hub", "we", "us", "our") collects, uses, shares and protects personal data when you visit finchathub.com or use our WhatsApp enquiry service. It applies to people in Botswana and Zambia.

Effective date: 15 September 2026.

1. Who we are

FinChat Hub helps people start enquiries for loans, insurance and investments through a guided WhatsApp conversation, and refers those enquiries to participating financial service providers. For the personal data described in this policy, FinChat Hub is the data controller: we decide why and how it is processed.

You can contact us about privacy at any time at info@finchathub.com. Please use the subject line "Privacy" so your message reaches the person responsible for data protection.

2. The laws we follow

We process personal data in line with the Data Protection Act, 2024 of Botswana, which is overseen by the Information and Data Protection Commission. Where you use our service from Zambia, we also follow the Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 of Zambia, overseen by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

In practice this means we process personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently; only for specific purposes we have told you about; limited to what is needed; kept accurate; kept no longer than necessary; and protected with appropriate security.

3. What we collect

Information you give us in the WhatsApp conversation

• Your name and WhatsApp number.
• The service you are interested in, such as a loan, loan consolidation, insurance or an investment.
• Details a provider needs to consider your enquiry, such as your income range, the amount you are looking for, the repayment period, your employment type and the town or area you live in.
• Your answers about consent, including whether you agree to your enquiry being referred to a provider.
• Anything else you choose to type into the conversation.

Information you give us in our website calculator and forms

• The figures you enter into the loan calculator: your monthly income, what you pay toward loans or other deductions each month, the amount you want to borrow and the repayment period. We keep these with a calculation reference so we can show you the estimate and, if you ask to be contacted, attach it to your enquiry.
• If you ask to be contacted: your first name, surname, WhatsApp number, email address if you choose to give it, and your consent choices.

A calculation on its own does not include your name or contact details. Those are only collected if you submit your details and agree to your enquiry being shared.

Information collected when you use our website

• Technical information such as your browser type, device type, approximate location derived from your IP address, and the pages you visit.
• Cookie and similar technology data, subject to the choices you make in our cookie banner.
• Records of which buttons you tap, for example which service or country you chose, so we can understand how the site is used.

The interactive demo on our homepage runs only in your browser. Anything you type into the demo is not sent to us or stored by us.

Information we do not ask for

We do not ask for your Omang, passport or national registration card number to start an enquiry, and we will never ask for your banking passwords, PINs or one-time codes. If a provider later needs identity documents for a formal application, they will ask you directly.

Sensitive personal data

We do not set out to collect sensitive personal data, such as information about your health, religion or ethnic origin. Some insurance enquiries, such as medical or funeral cover, may involve health-related questions. If so, we will explain why the question is needed and ask for your express consent first, and you can decline to answer.

4. Why we use your information, and our lawful basis

• To handle your enquiry: asking the right follow-up questions, showing you an indicative figure, and preparing your enquiry. Basis: taking steps at your request before you enter into a contract, and your consent.
• To refer your enquiry to a provider: sharing your enquiry with one relevant participating provider. Basis: your consent, which we ask for in the conversation before anything is shared.
• To communicate with you: replying on WhatsApp and letting you know about the status of your enquiry. Basis: your request and our legitimate interest in responding to you.
• To run, secure and improve our service: preventing misuse and fraud, fixing problems and understanding which questions work well. Basis: our legitimate interests, balanced against your rights.
• To send you marketing, if you ask to hear from us. Basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
• To meet legal obligations, such as responding to lawful requests from regulators or courts. Basis: legal obligation.

5. Who we share it with

• A participating financial service provider relevant to your enquiry, only after you agree. Once a provider receives your enquiry, it becomes responsible for how it uses your information, under its own privacy notice.
• Service providers who help us operate, such as WhatsApp (provided by Meta), our website hosting provider and email services. They may only use your information to provide their services to us.
• Regulators, law enforcement or courts where the law requires us to share information.
• A successor business if FinChat Hub is sold or restructured, in which case this policy will continue to protect your information.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with providers for their general marketing.

6. Indicative figures and automated processing

The indicative figures we show, such as an estimated monthly repayment, are calculated automatically from your answers using an illustrative rate. They are for information only. FinChat Hub does not make decisions about you, such as approving or declining credit, by automated means. Those decisions are made by the provider. If you believe an automated step has affected you, you can ask us for a human review.

7. Transfers outside Botswana and Zambia

Some of the services we rely on, including WhatsApp and our hosting provider, may store or process data on servers outside Botswana or Zambia. We only transfer personal data outside the country where the law allows it, for example where the receiving country provides an adequate level of protection, where appropriate safeguards are in place, or where you have consented to the transfer.

8. How long we keep it

• Conversations you do not complete: up to 90 days, then removed.
• Completed enquiries and referrals: up to 24 months after our last contact with you, so we can answer questions about the referral.
• Records of your consent and opt-outs: for as long as we need them to show that we respected your choices.

We may keep information for longer where the law requires it or where it is needed for a legal claim. When information is no longer needed, we remove it or make it anonymous.

9. How we protect it

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include encrypted connections, access limited to people who need it, and confidentiality obligations for our staff and service providers. WhatsApp messages are protected by WhatsApp's own security.

If a personal data breach happens that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will notify the relevant data protection authority, and you where required, within the timeframes set by law.

10. Your rights

Under the data protection laws of Botswana and Zambia, you have the right to:

• be told how your personal data is used, which is what this policy does;
• ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• ask us to erase your information where we no longer have a valid reason to keep it;
• object to our use of your information, including for direct marketing;
• ask us to restrict how we use your information in certain circumstances;
• receive your information in a commonly used format, or have it sent to another organisation, where this applies;
• withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting anything done before you withdrew it;
• not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that significantly affects you; and
• complain to the data protection authority.

To use any of these rights, email info@finchathub.com or send us a message in the WhatsApp conversation. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request. We do not charge for reasonable requests, and we will respond within the period required by law.

11. Stopping messages

Reply STOP in the WhatsApp conversation at any time and we will stop messaging you. You can also block our number in WhatsApp.

12. Children

Our service is for people aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has given us their information, please contact us and we will remove it.

13. Cookies

Our website uses cookies that are needed for it to work, and, only if you agree, optional cookies that help us understand how the site is used. You can accept or decline optional cookies in the cookie banner and change your choice at any time.

14. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the data protection authority:

• Botswana: the Information and Data Protection Commission.
• Zambia: the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

15. Changes to this policy

We may revise this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make significant changes, we will make them clear on this page and, where appropriate, tell you in the WhatsApp conversation.

16. Contact us

FinChat Hub
Email: info@finchathub.com or admin@finchathub.com

See also our Terms and Conditions.