End-User Agreement
1. What You Need To Know
Who is Bud?
1.1 We are Bud Financial Limited (“Bud”), a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 09651629, VAT number GB 220890817 and our registered address is at 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.
1.2 We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) under Financial Services Register numbers 793327 and 765768. We are authorised by the FCA to arrange regulated products and services, as well as provide account information services and payment initiation services. The FCA’s address is 12 Endeavour Square, London E20 1JN, and they can be contacted on 0800 111 6768 (freephone) or 0300 500 8082 from the UK.
Contacting Bud
1.3 To contact us, please email help@thisisbud.com or write to us at 167-169 Great Portland Street, 5th Floor, London, W1W 5PF.
If You Have a Complaint
1.4 We consider a complaint as being defined as an expression of dissatisfaction made by you in relation to any of the services we provide. In the event that you make a complaint, we will make every effort to rectify the problem as soon as practicably possible. If you have any complaints about any of the Bud Services, you should contact our support team at help@thisisbud.com and we will try to resolve it as soon as possible.
1.5 If the nature of your complaint relates to the provision of any of the Bud Services, we will send you a final response within 15 business days of the receipt of your complaint. In exceptional circumstances, we will send you a holding reply specifying the deadline by which you will receive our response, being no later than 35 business days from the date we received your initial complaint. If you do not receive our final response or you are unhappy with our final response, you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS”). You can contact the FOS at The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR or by calling them on 0800 023 4567.
1.6 If you do refer your complaint to the FOS, this will not affect your right to take legal action.
Why are you seeing this agreement?
1.7 You are seeing these terms (this “Agreement”) because a company supplying you with a product or service (which may include a company supplying you with a lending product or service) (“Service Provider”) relies on Bud’s technology in order to do one or all of these:
1.7.1 access the data (“Account Data”) related to your financial account (“Financial Account”) which is held by your bank, building society or other financial account providers (“Account Provider”), this service is referred to in this Agreement as the “Bud Account Service”; and/or
1.7.2 initiate a payment from your Financial Account to a third party of your choosing, this service is referred to in this Agreement as the “Bud Payment Service”; and/or
1.7.3 use other products or services which are provided by Bud and using its technology.
1.8 Together, the Bud Account Service and the Bud Payment Service are referred to in this Agreement as the “Bud Services”.
1.9 By using your Service Provider’s product or service, you are agreeing to be bound by this Agreement. If you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, you must stop accessing or using your Service Provider’s product or service that relies on Bud’s technology.
2. Bud Account Service
2.1 This section 2 sets out the terms on which we will provide the Bud Account Service. You provide us with your explicit consent, either (i) as a one-off or (ii) on an ongoing basis for 90 days from the date of your giving explicit consent, to:
2.1.1 retrieve your Account Data held by your Account Provider;
2.1.2 transfer your Account Data to your Service Provider who will use that information in accordance with the terms agreed between you and your Service Provider. If the product or service you are using with your Service Provider is for lending or affordability purposes, then the information you provide may be used for lending or affordability decisions.
2.2 In order for us to access or use the Account Data held by your Account Provider, you must supply us with the information which you would use when accessing your account directly with your Account Provider. We will look after these credentials using reasonable care and skill and in accordance with our regulatory obligations.
2.3 You will need to renew your consent every 90 days in order for us to access your Account Data. In certain circumstances your Account Provider may require you to carry out strong customer authentication every 90 days (instead of renewing your consent with Bud) in order for us to access your Account Data. It is your responsibility to carry out the reconsent or strong customer authentication (as applicable) in order for us to continue to access your Account Data on an ongoing basis and process Account Data in accordance with section 2.1 above.
2.4 If you do not renew your consent or strong customer authentication (as applicable) Bud will not be able to provide the applicable Bud Services to you.
3. Bud Payment Service
3.1 The Bud Payment Service, which is integrated into the product or service provided by your Service Provider, allows you to initiate payments (“Initiated Payment”) to recipients of your choosing (“Payees”).
3.2 If you wish to make an Initiated Payment to a Payee via the Bud Payment Service then you will need to confirm the following details (“Initiated Payment Details”):
certain details in relation to your Financial Account (including security details which your Account
3.2.1 Provider will require for authorisation purposes);
3.2.2 the amount of the Initiated Payment; and
3.2.3 the account details of the Payee.
3.3 We may automatically fill in some of the Initiated Payment Details (for example, the Payee’s account number and sort code) but you agree that it is your responsibility to ensure that all Initiated Payment Details (including those we fill in) are correct. If any Initiated Payment Details are incorrect there is a risk of delay and a risk that you may not be able to recover the funds.
3.4 When you confirm that you wish to make the Initiated Payment to the Payee using the Initiated Payment Details, this will be taken as your explicit consent for us to send the Initiated Payment Details to your Account Provider. If the Initiated Payment is successful, we will notify you and the Payee of this. If the Initiated Payment is unsuccessful (because, for example, you have insufficient funds in your Financial Account), we will notify you and the Payee of this. These successful or unsuccessful notifications will be provided to you on screen following your confirmation of an Initiated Payment.
3.5 You agree that the successful payment of an Initiated Payment requires the cooperation of your Account Provider (and the account provider of the Payee) and the correct functioning of the banking infrastructure. Once we have submitted the Initiated Payment Details to your Account Provider, the execution of the Initiated Payment is the responsibility of your Account Provider and we are not responsible for any delays arising after our submission of the details to them.
3.6 You may be redirected to your Account Provider’s website or mobile application in order to authenticate yourself so that your Account Provider knows that you consent to the Initiated Payment.
3.7 If the Initiated Payment relates to a transaction that is to be executed by your Account Provider immediately, you will not be able to cancel the Initiated Payment after you have provided your confirmation. If you have approved the Initiated Payment during a business day (meaning a day (other than a Saturday or a Sunday) on which banks are open for general business in London), it will be considered as received by us and approved by you on that day. If you have approved the Initiated Payment during a day which is not a business day, it will be considered as received by us and approved by you the following business day although this is subject to your terms with your Account Provider.
3.8 We will not charge you for making an Initiated Payment but your Account Provider may, at its discretion, charge you to send the payment (please refer to your Account Provider for further information in relation to any charges which may be applicable).
4. Incorrect or Unauthorised Payments
4.1 If you are using Bud’s Payment Service and you suspect that an unauthorised or incorrect Initiated Payment has been made using the Bud Payment Service you must notify us of this as soon as possible by emailing help@thisisbud.com.
4.2 You may be entitled to a refund of the unauthorised or incorrect Initiated Payment from your Account Provider but you must notify them of the unauthorised or incorrect payment as soon as possible and no later than 13 months after the date of the relevant Initiated Payment.
4.3 You should be aware that your Account Provider may contact you directly if there is an issue with the Initiated Payment submitted (for example, there are insufficient funds or an issue with your authorisation). You will need to resolve any such issues directly with your Account Provider.
5.What We Expect From You
5.1 By using the applicable Bud Services, you agree that:
5.1.1 all the information you have provided to us is accurate and correct;
5.1.2 you will only use the Bud Services for the purposes set out in this Agreement;
5.1.3 you will, on request and where applicable, provide us with a current address, telephone number and e-mail address.
5.2 You agree that you will only use the applicable Bud Services for the purposes set out in this Agreement and will not attempt to:
5.2.1 gain unauthorised access to, make unauthorised alterations to, or introduce any kind of malicious code, including any viruses, disabling code, time bombs or Trojan horses, to the Bud Services by any means;
5.2.2 except as permitted by law, reverse engineer or decompile (whether in whole or part) the Bud Services;
5.2.3 make copies, modify, reproduce, transmit, alter or distribute all or any part of the Bud Services or any material or information contained in them, other than as permitted by law;
5.2.4 use the Bud Services for any purpose that is unlawful under any applicable law;
5.2.5 use the Bud Services to commit any act of fraud;
5.2.6 use the Bud Services to simulate communications from us or another service or entity in order to collect identity information, authentication credentials, or other information (“phishing”); or
5.2.7 use the Bud Services in any manner that disrupts its operation.
5.3 If you suspect that there is fraud or a security risk in relation to any of the Bud Services, you must immediately contact us using the contact details set out above.
6. Your Privacy
6. 1 When we access your Account Data from your Account Provider, we will collect and process your personal data under the instruction of your Service Provider as part of the Bud Services. We will only access and collect your Account Data and personal data with your consent. You may revoke your consent at any time via your Account Provider or your Service Provider.
6.2 Once you have provided your consent, your Account Data will be sent to your Service Provider. As part of this process your Account Data (including any personal data) will be anonymised by Bud for the purposes of improving Bud’s products and services. Once your Account Data (including any personal data) has been sent through the Bud Services to your Service Provider, your Service Provider (and not us) is then responsible for the ways in which your Account Data (including any personal data) will be processed. Please review your Service Provider’s privacy policy for information on how they handle your data.
6.3 If you use Bud’s Account Service, we will access your Account Data from the Financial Accounts you connect up to the last 12 months.
6.4 If you use one of Bud’s ongoing Bud Services then we will continue to access your Account Data from the Financial Account you connect, if you provide us with ongoing consent. If you do not renew your consent or strong customer authentication (as applicable) in accordance with section 2.3, Bud will not be able to provide the applicable Bud Services to you.
6.5 After your Account Data has been sent to your Service Provider, we will only keep your Account Data (including any personal data) for as long as we are instructed to do under the terms of our agreement with your Service Provider. After this time, Bud will delete your Account Data (including any personal data) and only maintain a basic record of the consent we have collected (name, email address and date consent was provided) in accordance with applicable laws.
7. Security of Payment Details
7.1 In this section 7, a reference to “security credentials” includes (a) any details which you use to access the Service Provider's application or service and (b) any details which you use to access your Financial Account using the Bud Account Service or the Bud Payment Service.
7.2 You must take all reasonable steps to keep your security credentials safe and you must not disclose them or allow them to be used by anyone else. You must not leave the device you are using unattended while you are using the Service Provider's application or service and you must make sure that any security credentials stored or displayed on your device are kept secure.
7.3 If the device on which the Service Provider's application or service is installed is lost or stolen, or you suspect that another person knows your security credentials, you must notify us immediately at help@thisisbud.com.
7.4 In the event that we need to contact you in respect of suspected fraud or any other security threat, we will contact you using the details you have provided to us.
8. Termination Rights
8.1 We can terminate, restrict or suspend your access to the any of the Bud Services by immediate notice in writing (which can include email) to you at any time in the event that:
8.1.1 you breach these terms and/or any other agreement with us; and/or
8.1.2 we suspect that you have accessed or used any of the Bud Services for the purpose of an illegal activity; and/or
8.1.3 we suspect you have given us false information; and/or
8.1.4 we have concerns about the security of any of the Bud Services; and/or
8.1.5 a device is used that we do not recognise or is used in a way it was not designed for (such as “jail broken” or we detect viruses or malicious software); and/or
8.1.6 we are compelled to do so pursuant to any legal or regulatory requirement; and/or
8.1.7 you apply for bankruptcy or become subject of a bankruptcy petition or order.
8.2 We can terminate this Agreement with you for any other reason (or no particular reason) by providing you with one month’s written notice.
8.3 You have the right to terminate this Agreement at any time without notice by contacting us using the contact details set out at section 1 above.
8.4 If this Agreement is terminated for any reason:
8.4.1 all rights granted to you under these terms will cease; and
8.4.2you must immediately cease all activities under these terms, including your use of the applicable Bud Services.
8.5 Any of these terms which are expressly, or by implication, intended to come into or continue in force on or after termination will remain in full force and effect.
8.6 Termination will not affect any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities of you or us that have accrued up to the date of termination, including the right to claim damages in respect of any breach of the terms which existed at or before the date of termination or expiry.
9. Our liability to you
9.1 We will comply with our legal and regulatory obligations to prevent unauthorised access to the Bud Services and we will accept liability for loss and/or damage to you resulting from any unauthorised access to the Bud Services, provided that such loss and/or damage could have been reasonably foreseen by us at the time that you agreed to be bound by these terms.
9.2 However, you will be responsible for any losses arising from unauthorised access if we reasonably believe that:
9.2.1 you negligently, or intentionally, failed to take all reasonable precautions to keep safe, and prevent fraudulent use of your devices and/or security information (in accordance with section 7 above); and/or
9.2.2 you acted fraudulently; and/or
9.2.3 you are aware of the Bud Services being accessed without authority but fail to inform us promptly (in accordance with section 7 above).
9.3 We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage if another bank, building society, payment provider or one of our product partners is responsible for such loss or damage.
9.4 We will not be liable for any loss or damage that you may suffer because of any abnormal or unforeseeable circumstances outside our of reasonable control which would have been unavoidable despite all efforts to the contrary, for example, any delay or failure caused by problems with another system or network, any breakdown or failure of transmission, communication, data processing or computer facilities, mechanical breakdown, an act of state or government, war, riot or terrorism, any act of God, the suspension of any market, postal or other strikes or similar industrial action or any prevention from or hindrance in obtaining any materials, energy or other supplies necessary for the performance of our obligations under these terms.
9.5 We have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption or loss of business opportunity.
9.6 We will have no liability for refusing any application submitted by you to register for use of the Bud Services or any other product or service we may provide.
9.7 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or the negligence of our employees, agents, or subcontractors, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
9.8 We do not exclude or limit our liability for any failure to perform duties that we owe to you under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 or under the rules of the FCA.
9.9 The products and services provided by your Service Provider and/or Account Provider are addressed by the agreements that you have with each of them. As a result, we have no liability for the products and services provided to you by your Service Provider (except in the event that your Service Provider is operating as an agent of Bud for the provision of account information services) or any relevant Account Provider and we are not liable to you for any harm, damage or loss arising from your access or use of those products and services.
10. About This Agreement
10.1 These terms are in English and any communications we send to you will be in English. You agree that all communications that we may need to send to you may be sent electronically and you agree that we have no obligation to send communications in paper form.
10.2 The provisions of these terms are personal to you and you cannot assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under them. We can assign or transfer our respective rights and/or obligations under these terms.
10.3 If any provision of these terms is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable that will not affect the legality, validity or enforceability of any other provision of these terms.
10.4 These terms are made between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms.
10.5 We reserve the right to make changes to these terms or to the Bud Services from time to time. If you do not accept the changes made, you have the right to terminate this Agreement. Your continued use of the Bud Services will be understood as your acceptance of the new terms and conditions. During the term of this Agreement, you may request a copy of the current form of these terms and we will provide you with a copy.
10.6 These terms, their subject matter and their formation, are governed by English law. You and we both agree that the courts of England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction, except that if you are a resident of Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in Northern Ireland, and if you are resident of Scotland you may also bring proceedings in Scotland.