Current as of 01 August 2024

Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us at Aqwire. We respect your privacy regarding any information we may collect from you across our website.

General

Aqwire Pte. Ltd. is a corporation incorporated under the laws of Singapore, which also operates several subsidiaries such as Qwikwire Billing Systems, Inc. and OmniSent Corp. We may share personal information with these or future affiliates.

Aqwire, doing business as Aqwire, and our subsidiaries and affiliates (“Aqwire,” “Company,” “We,” “Us,” “Our”) are committed to protecting your privacy and the privacy of information that you share with us.

Our Privacy Policy (“Policy”) discloses the privacy practices for the updated website Aqwire Billing Systems (“Site,” “Platform”) (https://pay.aqwire.io) and how you can contact us for further questions, which is owned and operated by Aqwire Pte. Ltd., a stock corporation, as well as the use of any application created by Aqwire. The Policy explains how we collect, use, and disclose the information we obtain through our Site, Platforms, any other application, and other services we provide to our clients and the choices you can make about how we can handle the information. This Policy applies to our collection and use of information from all visitors to the Site, including, without limitation, visitors using only free services offered on the Site.

About this Privacy Policy

By accepting and reading this Privacy Policy, you signify your express agreement and consent to this Policy and its terms.

Any information collected from or about you through your use of the Site or our services is subject to this Policy for Aqwire.

You agree to immediately contact us if you become aware that someone may have compromised the security of the username and password for your account with us.

1. Gerneral Provisions

Collecting and using data from various sources is essential to our ability to provide our services - and to help keep the services safe. Data is critical in helping us to increase the safety of our transactions, reduce the risk of fraud, money laundering, and other harmful activity, and to comply with legal obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001 and other related laws.

Throughout this Privacy Policy, we use the term "Personal Information" to describe information that can be associated with a specific person and can be used to identify that person. We do not consider personal information to include anonymous data, so it does not identify a particular user.

2. Personal Information Processing

What information does Aqwire collect?

Aqwire, as the Personal Information Controller (PIC) for the personal information collected in the Site and Platforms, collects the following categories of data to provide services:

Aqwire Customer Information

We use the data provided to operate and ensure that you can successfully complete an enrollment and/or transaction process payments efficiently, securely, and legally for us to perform our services.

  • First and last name, email address, phone number
  • Billing details and invoices
  • Billing address
  • Aqwire username and password
  • Other information required by Aqwire to render service
  • Other identifying information you choose to share with us
  • Aqwire Customer Financial Information

  • Credit Card Information
  • Bank Account information
  • Other Payment Instrument Information
  • Website and Device Information

  • Addresses and other device information
  • General location information
  • How you interact with the Aqwire Website
  • Referring URL
  • How does Aqwire collect your information?

    Aqwire collects your data when you:

  • Use any of our products or services
  • Request information on Aqwire and its products and services
  • Subscribe to our newsletter
  • Sign up for an Aqwire event or webinar
  • Report a problem or file a complaint on the Service
  • Voluntarily complete a customer survey and provide feedback
  • Contact the Support Team
  • Use or view our Site via cookies, third-party cookies, web beacons, and Device ID
  • How does Aqwire use your personal information?

    Aqwire uses your data to:

  • Provide you with the products and services we offer
  • Respond to inquiries, send service notices, and provide customer support
  • Prevent and investigate fraud, illegal or prohibited activities, security issues, and suspicious activities
  • Conduct manual or systematic monitoring for fraud and other harmful activity
  • Mitigate financial loss or other other harm to Users, Customers, and Aqwire
  • Verify an identity for compliance purposes under applicable laws
  • Verify or evaluate an application of prospective customers to use our services
  • Monitor use of the Aqwire Website and improve user experience
  • Provide the necessary updates about Aqwire and its services such as our policies, announcements, or alerts
  • Email you with promotional offers on other products and services we think you might like
  • Secure your information and maintain your data with Aqwire
  • Enforce our terms and any other agreements between you and us
  • Improve and maintain our services
  • Comply with any applicable laws or legal processes, such as know-your-client and identity verification (IDV) purposes.
  • Conduct aggregate analysis and develop business intelligence that enable us to operate, protect, make informed decisions, and report on the performance of our business.
  • 3. Personal Information Sharing

    To whom does Aqwire share your information?

    Except as otherwise set forth in this Policy, Aqwire does not sell, share, or in any other way transmit personal information submitted by our users to any other persons, marketers, or companies.

    Aqwire shares your data with third parties as follows:

    • To collect payment due for the provision of the services
    • Based on your instructions through normal use of our Site or services, in response to a notification from us describing how we will share information and your subsequent provision of such information, or as otherwise specifically requested by you.
    • With your company or your company contact based on the latest information provided by you or an approved representative of your company.
    • With Aqwire service providers under contract who help with parts of our business operations, such as:
      • Including but not limited to identity verification, credit checks, fraud prevention, bill collection, marketing, and technology services.
      • Payment gateways and processors, managed data security services that perform tokenization services on behalf of Aqwire, and fraud prevention or security service providers that use the information to help prevent, detect, and/or address malicious activity.
    • With Aqwire service providers and referral partners that work on behalf of Aqwire to provide some aspects of our services; and email service providers to perform marketing services and to help us communicate with you;
      • When you submit an online "Contact Us" or other online inquiry form or when you call, write, fax or otherwise initiate contact with Aqwire, we record your contact information (name, address, phone number, and email address) in our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System.
    • With relevant law enforcement officials or other third parties, such as investigators or auditors, if we believe it is appropriate to investigate fraud or malicious activity.
    • With relevant regulators or law enforcement officials in response to a valid request for information where we believe disclosure is in accordance with applicable law, regulation, or legal process.
    • With relevant regulators and law enforcement officials or payment method rules in response to a valid request for information where we believe disclosure is in accordance with applicable law, regulation, or legal process, requests from courts, law enforcement agencies, and other public and government authorities, which may include authorities outside your country of residence.

    You hereby agree that we may share some or all of your personal information with Aqwire's parent company, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or other companies under common control with us (collectively, “Affiliates”). We will require our Affiliates to comply with this Privacy Policy.

    If you submit any personal information of another individual to us or our service providers in connection with the services, you represent that you have the authority to do so and to permit us to use the information in accordance with this Policy.

    If the Company or our assets are acquired by another company, that company will possess the personal information collected by us.

    We also reserve the right to use aggregated and de-identified personal information provided that those data cannot be reasonably used to identify you.

    4. NON-CUSTOMER SALES, SERVICE, OR INFORMATION INQUIRIES

    Aqwire protects all information collected via online inquiry forms and will not disclose it to any third parties except as otherwise outlined in this Policy.

    In some cases, we may refer you to an Aqwire online inquiry form via a link on a third-party referral website. In that case, we may share any information collected on the Aqwire-hosted online inquiry form with the referring party only, and that referring party may use it for their own non-Aqwire-related marketing communication programs.

    You consent to receive auto-dialed calls from or on behalf of Aqwire at any number provided to us, whether such numbers are directed at a residence, a business, a wireless telephone, or otherwise. You understand that this consent is not a condition of purchasing the products and services offered by Aqwire.

    To obtain an Aqwire Account, you must provide contact information (name, address, phone number, and e-mail address) in addition to other personal information, including but not limited to your Social Security Number (SSN) (we may use the last four (4) digits provided to obtain and store the whole SSN), driver's license state and number, Employer Identification Number (Tax ID), and billing information.

    5. LIMITED USE DISCLOSURE

    Use of Third-Party Tracking Tools and Analytics

    In our efforts to continually improve our product and service offerings, we collect and analyze demographic and profile data about our users and their customers.

    We may use third-party analytics providers, such as Google Analytics, which use cookies and similar technologies to collect and analyze information about the use of the services and report on activities and trends. These third parties may also collect information regarding the use of other websites, apps, and online resources.

    You can learn about Google's practices by going to https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and opt out of them by downloading the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

    Use of Demographic and Profile Data

    For quality and training purposes, Aqwire may monitor or record its telephone conversations with you or anyone acting on your behalf. By communicating with us, you acknowledge that your communication may be overheard, monitored, or recorded with prior notice or warning.

    To help protect you from fraud and misuse of your personal information, we may collect information about you and your interactions with Aqwire, including but not limited to the following:

    • Evaluate your computer, mobile phone, or other access devices to identify malicious software or activity.
    • We may create anonymous records from personal information by excluding information (such as your name) that makes the data personally identifiable to you or one of your customers.
    • We may use this anonymous information to direct future development, including but not limited to analyzing usage patterns to enhance our services and provide reports based on anonymous non-personal information.

    Aqwire reserves the right to use and disclose anonymous information to third parties at our discretion.

    Use of Third-Party Service Providers

    Any third parties, such as vendors affiliated with our services, are subject to their own privacy policies, and we do not accept any responsibility for how they collect, process, retain, dispose of, and use. We encourage you to check and review the privacy practices and policies of our third-party services before you submit any personal data.

    6. Cookies

    What are cookies?

    A cookie is a small text file stored on your computer to help us make your visit more user-friendly by improving the site and your experience. Any data collected through cookies will be treated under this Policy. If you have set your browser to warn you before accepting cookies, you should receive a warning message with each cookie. You may refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. However, you should know that our site may not work well with cookies disabled.

    For further information, visit https://allaboutcookies.org.

    What types of cookies do we use?

    There are different types of cookies; however, our Site uses third-party cookies from Google Analytics, an analytics tool to track and analyze website traffic and user behavior.

    Use of Third-Party Service Providers

    Any third parties, such as vendors affiliated with our services, are subject to their own privacy policies, and we do not accept any responsibility for how they collect, process, retain, dispose of, and use. We encourage you to check and review the privacy practices and policies of our third-party services before you submit any personal data.

    7. PERSONAL INFORMATION SECURITY

    How does Aqwire secure your information?

    Aqwire takes the protection of your personal information seriously. As described on our security page, we utilize commercially reasonable physical, administrative, and technical security measures to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, use, and disclosure of the information under our control.

    We also implement regular security compliance audits along with physical, technical, and organizational security measures as the National Privacy Commission recommends, basing it on multiple compliance frameworks and best practices.

    However, the transmission of information via the Internet is only partially secure. Any transmission of personal information via the Internet is at your own risk. You are responsible for keeping your account information, including your password, confidential. We ask you not to share your information (e.g., password, account, and credit card number) with anyone.

    Aqwire ensures that the following measures are constantly implemented to ensure that your data is handled securely when we process, transfer, and store them:

    • Use industry-standard encryption technology to secure data
    • Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA)
    • Documented risk and gap analysis
    • Use of industry-recognized framework with SOC2
    • Vendor Assessments

    8. STORAGE, RETENTION, AND DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

    How does Aqwire store your information?

    Aqwire stores your data with third-party services that process customer data on behalf of Aqwire, including but not limited to Cloud service providers, billing services such as banks and payment processors, and SaaS providers.

    When we share your personal information/data with third parties, we ensure that the data processed are to be secured and protected under the terms of our Data Sharing Agreement with third parties..

    Our contracts dictate that these service providers only use your information in connection with the services they perform for us and not for their benefit, except as otherwise outlined in this Policy, including without limitation as set forth in the Non-Customer Sales, Service, or Information Inquiries section above.

    We will make reasonable commercial efforts to ensure that they comply with such policy or requirements. However, we will not be liable if any person fails to do so.

    How does Aqwire manage and retain your information?

    Data Retention Policy

    In compliance with BSP Circular No. 1138 on Data Retention, we preserve the full transaction data based on the transaction type.

    • For one-time payments, we retain the data for up to five (5) years based on when the transaction was created.
    • For enrollments or recurring payments, we retain the data for up to five (5) years based on the last payment in the transaction.

    Upon the expiration of such periods, Aqwire will ensure that the personal data under its custody anonymizes the transaction by removing all electronic customer information and then moving it into our archive database for storage in-house using cloud storage servers with sufficient security measures implemented.

    All expired transactions, including the categorized personal information, cannot be accessible anymore, protected from the internal and merchant dashboards unless required by law. This period may extend beyond the end of the relationship with us but only for so long as we are contractually bound to do so, or so far as is necessary for the audit, legal/compliance, or other accounting purposes.

    How does Aqwire dispose your information?

    Data Disposal Policy

    We will retain personal information for as long as you remain an active Aqwire Paid Account Holder and for a reasonable time afterward.
    We have a variety of obligations to retain the data that you provide to us, including to ensure that transactions can be appropriately processed, including but not limited to:

    When your data is no longer needed, we have procedures either to destroy, delete, erase or convert it to an anonymous form in a secure manner.

    Such retention beyond the intended processing period is aggregated, de-identified, and encrypted to protect your identity during a personal data breach. Any data that is no longer required by relevant laws or jurisdictions in which we operate, legitimate business purposes, or purposes for which Aqwire collected initially will be securely disposed of.

    The Data Protection Officer and Chief Technology Officer are responsible for reviewing the period in retaining all personal data. They shall identify any data no longer needed in the context of the registered purpose/s.

    Your data shall be destroyed and disposed of within the planned period. It is handled as follows:

    After that, your data is prevented from further processing, disclosure, and unauthorized access to any other party.

    However, there may also be residual data that will remain within our databases and other records, which will not be removed. We reserve the right to retain anonymized and aggregate data indefinitely.

    We comply with all applicable laws and regulations to data processing, such as the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 2012 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations. Our Privacy Policy values and protects your information under the applicable data protection legislation, and your data remains protected to the standards described in this Privacy Policy.

    9. DATA PROTECTION RIGHTS

    With you as a data subject, the following rights regarding the control of your personal information provided by law may be exercised by means of:

    1. a. Right to Access

      Subject to applicable laws, you have the right to access the information we hold about you in accordance with the relevant data protection legislation.
    2. b. Right to Rectification

      You have the right to correct any personal information we hold on you that is inaccurate, incorrect, or out of date and have us correct it immediately and accordingly, unless the requests are vexatious or unreasonable
    3. c. Right to Erasure

      You have the right to ask us to delete your data when it is no longer necessary, or no longer subject to a legal obligation to which Aqwire is subject.
    4. d. Right to Data Portability

      You have the right to obtain from us a copy of the personal information that we have collected from you or transfer certain of your data between data controllers; for example, to move your account details from one online platform to another.
    5. e. Location Information

      You may be able to stop the collection of location information through your device settings or by following the standard uninstall process to remove our applications from your device; however, because such data is used by us to optimize Aqwire's services, meet legal requirements, as well as for ongoing fraud and risk monitoring purposes, choosing to remove or disable location services may interfere with your use and functionality of the Aqwire services.

    You may send an email to us at privacy@aqwire.co to initiate requests such as modifications or to obtain a file for review. Note that Aqwire will require you to verify your identity prior to releasing any personal information.

    10. Other Important Information

    Promotional/Marketing Emails

    You may opt out of receiving marketing communications from us and our partners by following the opt-out instructions we include in such communications using the link in such emails or by whatever means we allow you to unsubscribe.

    You may request that your personal information be removed from all Aqwire systems. This request must be made in writing via email at privacy@aqwire.co. Note that if you request the removal of your personal information, you will no longer have access to any existing Aqwire account and cannot use any Aqwire product or service.

    International Data Transfers

    We operate globally and have a global infrastructure. Aqwire contracts with service providers, which means your data may be stored and processed in any country where we have operations or engage with service providers, and we may transfer data to a country outside of your country of residence, including the United States, which may have data protection laws and rules that are different from those of your country.

    However, we take measures to ensure that any such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws and that your data remains protected to the standards described in this Policy. In certain circumstances, courts, law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies, or security authorities in those other countries may be entitled to access your data. Suppose your information is transferred to other countries, including countries that may not have data protection laws that provide the same level of protection that exists in your country. In that case, we will protect the information described in this Policy.

    Sensitive Personal Information

    Because email communications are not always secure, please do not include any debit/credit card or other sensitive data (such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion, health, or the like) in your emails to us.

    Contacting Us

    For questions or complaints regarding our use of your personal information, the Privacy Policy, or to forward information disclosure requests, please contact us at privacy@aqwire.co.

    Changes to the Privacy Policy

    Aqwire reserves the right to change this Policy at any time to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to align with new industry practices, or for other legitimate purposes.

    In the event of any changes, we will notify you through email and by revising the date found at the top of the Policy with a modified “Updated as of” so that you are always aware of the information we collect, how we use it, the circumstances we disclose it, and how we dispose of it.

    NPC Registration

    Aqwire has duly complied with the registration requirements of the Data Privacy Act with NPC Registration No. PIC-001-462-2023.

    npcregistration

    11. LIST OF THIRD PARTIES

    Before engaging any third party or service providers, we perform extensive due diligence, including detailed security and legal analysis. We do not engage a third party unless our quality standards are met. Our third parties are all subject to contract terms that enforce compliance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws that prohibit the providers from using your data on their own behalf.

    Aqwire Current uses the following third parties:

    Third Party Purpose Location
    Google Workspace Email, File Storage United States of America
    Google Analytics Data Analytics Tool United States of America
    HelpScout Ticketing, Customer Support United States of America
    Amazon Web Services Infrastructure, Cloud Service Provider United States of America
    SendGrid Email Infrastructure United States of America
    Segment Customer Data Platform United States of America
    Very Good Security Tokenization, Managed Data Security services United States of America
    Customer.io Customer Management,
    Marketing Communications
    United States of America
    IDfy Know Your Customer (KYC) Verification,
    Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Checks
    India