Credit authorization
What you are agreeing to when you submit the loan form: who receives your information, what they may do with it, which credit checks happen at which stage, and how to withdraw.
What you are authorising
When you submit an enquiry on the loan side of this site, you authorise Kovo Financial, Inc. to pass the information you provided to lenders and lending partners in our network so that they can decide whether to make you an offer.
You also authorise those lenders, and us, to verify your identity and obtain consumer reports about you for that purpose.
This authorisation is specific. It permits use of your information to evaluate you for credit and to verify who you are. It does not permit general marketing by unrelated third parties, and it is not a licence to resell your data.
Who receives your information
| Recipient | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Partner lenders | The details you submitted, and identity verification results | To decide whether to make you an offer, and on what terms |
| Identity verification providers | Name, address, date of birth, taxpayer number | To confirm you are who you say you are, and prevent fraud |
| Consumer reporting agencies | Identifying information | To obtain the reports the lender needs |
We require every recipient to certify that your information will be used only for the purpose above, and we do not sell your enquiry into an open marketplace where it can be bid on by parties who are not lenders. Full privacy policy.
Which credit checks happen, and when
This is the part most people want to know and most sites bury, so it has its own section.
| Stage | Type of check | Effect on your score |
|---|---|---|
| Checking your options on this site | Soft inquiry | None. Soft inquiries are visible only to you and are not used in scoring |
| A lender pre-qualifying you | Usually a soft inquiry | Normally none, but confirm with that lender |
| Formally applying with a lender | Hard inquiry | May reduce your score by a few points, and is visible to other lenders for about two years |
You control the step that costs you points. Looking at offers is a soft pull. The hard pull happens when you choose to proceed with a specific lender, and that lender will tell you before it does. Soft versus hard checks explained.
Submitting is not applying, and not approval
An enquiry through this site is a request for introductions. It is not a loan application, it does not commit you to anything, and it does not oblige any lender to make you an offer.
If a lender does make an offer, read their disclosures before accepting. Under the Truth in Lending Act they must tell you the APR, the total you will repay, the payment schedule and any fees. Those figures come from the lender and are the ones that govern.
Withdrawing your authorisation
Write to [email protected] and we will stop passing your information on and delete the enquiry, subject to records we are required to keep.
Withdrawing does not undo an introduction already made. If a lender already holds your information, their own privacy policy governs what happens to it, and you should contact them directly.
You may also opt out of prescreened credit offers entirely at optoutprescreen.com, or by calling 1-888-567-8688. That covers all four nationwide credit bureaus and is unrelated to us.
Your rights if something goes wrong
- Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act you may obtain your reports and dispute anything inaccurate, and you must be told which agency was used if you are declined on the basis of a report.
- Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act a lender must give you the specific reasons for a denial, or tell you how to request them.
- You may complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, your state attorney general, or your state financial regulator. We will not treat any of those as a breach of our terms.
Withdrawing or asking a question
Email [email protected]. We acknowledge within two business days.
See also advertiser disclosure and privacy policy.