Privacy Policy

This policy describes how AFE Capital Connect, operated by AFE International LLC(“AFE Capital Connect,” “we,” “us”), handles information collected through apply.afecapitalconnect.com (the “Site”). AFE Capital Connect provides businesses with access to an online application platform: businesses may submit an inquiry, request an application link, complete the online application (“Application”), and communicate with us about their inquiry or application.

We collect what you submit directly through the Site:

• Application information: the amount requested, time in business, approximate monthly revenue, industry, and business state, as entered in the Application.
• Business information: business name, entity type, business address, and website (if provided).
• Contact information: your name, mobile phone number, email address, and ownership percentage (if provided).
• Identity and financial documentation. At the final step of the Application, we collect your Social Security Number and the business bank statements you choose to upload (typically your 3–4 most recent months). This step is clearly labeled, separate from the rest of the Application, and requires your specific consent. See “How we protect Social Security Numbers and documents” below for how this category is handled differently from everything else we collect.
• Electronic signature. Before you can submit the Application, we require you to sign it using a drawn (mouse or touchscreen) signature. We store an image of that signature together with your name, the date and time you signed, the version of the certification language you agreed to, and your consent selections, as a record of your authorization to submit the Application.
• Chat assistant conversations. If you use the “AFE Assistant” chat widget, your messages are sent to a third-party AI provider to generate a response. We do not store your chat transcript on our own servers beyond what’s needed to generate that response — see “How the AFE Assistant chat handles information” below. If you ask the assistant to request a callback, we collect your name, email, phone (if provided), and business name (if provided), the same way as a contact form submission.
• Inquiry form submissions: your name, email, mobile phone (if provided), the type of request (for example, a request for an application link), and your message (if provided).

We do not ask for, and the Application does not collect, bank account or routing numbers, online banking credentials, card numbers, government ID numbers or images, tax returns, or similar sensitive financial or identity information beyond what’s listed above. If additional information or documents are needed to complete your Application, we will request them directly from you.

We also automatically receive standard technical information common to any website visit — including your IP address, browser and device information, and general usage/analytics events like which page was viewed or which application step was reached. We do not build analytics events that carry your name, email, phone number, business name, Social Security Number, or document contents — see “Cookies and analytics” below.

Your Social Security Number and uploaded bank statements are handled separately from the rest of your application, using stronger safeguards than we apply to other information:

• Your Social Security Number is encrypted before it is stored, using authenticated encryption with a key kept separately and never exposed in our website code or logs. It is not stored anywhere in plain text.
• Uploaded documents are stored in a private file storage system, not a publicly accessible location. There is no public web address that displays your documents.
• Neither your full Social Security Number nor your document contents are sent to our customer relationship management (CRM) platform. That system only records whether these items were received, not the items themselves.
• Access to the full Social Security Number is restricted to authorized personnel through a separate, password-protected internal system, and each time a full Social Security Number is viewed, that access is logged.
• So our team can process your Application, the internal notification email that alerts our team to a new application includes a PDF summary of your Application containing your full Social Security Number (and a second owner’s, if provided), and your uploaded documents as attachments. Each time a full Social Security Number is included in that email, the disclosure is logged. See “How we share information” below.

The AFE Assistant is an AI chat widget available on the Site for general questions — it is clearly labeled as an AI assistant, not a person, and does not make funding or underwriting decisions.

• Messages you send in the chat are sent to a third-party AI provider to generate a reply. We do not store the conversation on our own servers beyond what’s needed to generate that reply.
• The chat is designed not to request or accept a Social Security Number, bank account or routing numbers, card numbers, passwords, or other identity documents. If you send something that looks like this kind of information, it is intercepted before it reaches the AI provider and you’re redirected to the secure Application instead.
• We keep a short-lived, non-identifying record used only to prevent abuse (a hashed version of your IP address and a message count for about one minute) — never your messages themselves.
• If you ask the assistant for a callback, the contact information you provide is sent to us the same way a contact form submission is — see “How we share information” below.

We use the information above to:

• Respond to your inquiry, provide a requested application link, and process your Application;
• Communicate with you about your inquiry or Application by email or phone, and by text message only if you opted in, consistent with the consent choices you make;
• Operate, secure, and improve the Site; and
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Use.

AFE Capital Connect does not use artificial intelligence or automated systems to make decisions about your inquiry or Application. See Disclosures.

We share information in these circumstances:

• Service providers. We use a third-party customer relationship management (CRM) platform to store and manage submitted applications and messages and route them to our team (this platform does not receive your full Social Security Number or document contents — see above); a hosting/infrastructure provider to run the Site itself; a database provider to store application records; a file storage provider to hold uploaded documents privately; an email delivery provider we use to notify our team when a new application is submitted (this notification is sent to our team and includes the application information you provided, a PDF summary of your Application and signature containing your full Social Security Number, and your uploaded documents as attachments); a messaging service (Telegram) we use to send our team a short text summary of each new application (including your contact and business information and the last four digits of your Social Security Number, but not your full Social Security Number or documents); and an AI provider we use to generate responses in the AFE Assistant chat widget (chat messages are sent to this provider to generate a reply and are not stored by us beyond that — see “How the AFE Assistant chat handles information” above — and this provider never receives your Social Security Number or document contents). These providers process information on our behalf and are not authorized to use it for their own independent purposes.
• Legal and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, or legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of AFE Capital Connect, our users, or others.
• Business transfers. If AFE Capital Connect is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy or a successor policy.

The Site does not transmit your application, Social Security Number, or uploaded documents to any lender, funder, or other third party other than the service providers described above, which process that information on our behalf.

We do not sell your personal information to data brokers, and we do not share it for third-party advertising purposes unrelated to your inquiry or Application.

SMS consent is not shared with third parties. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties, excluding aggregators and providers of the text message services. In other words, the sharing described above covers the information you submit so we can respond to your inquiry and process your Application — it does not cover your text-message opt-in. Your consent to receive text messages, and the mobile number you gave us for that purpose, are never shared with third parties, affiliates, or anyone else for their own use or marketing. See “Text messaging (SMS)” directly below.

If you check the optional text-message consent box on one of our forms — the inquiry form, the chat assistant’s callback form, or the Application — you are opting in to receive SMS text messages from AFE Capital Connect about your inquiry or application. The box is never pre-selected, is separate from accepting the Terms of Use, and is not required to submit an inquiry or Application. This section describes that program specifically. Full program terms are on the SMS Terms of Service page.

What we collect for SMS.

• The mobile phone number you provide.
• A record of your consent — whether you checked the box, the exact consent wording you were shown, the date and time, and the IP address and browser the submission came from. We keep this as proof that the opt-in was genuine and voluntary.
• The fact that you later opted out, if you reply STOP, so we can honor it.

How we use it.

Only to send you the transactional messages described on the SMS Terms of Service page — a requested application link, inquiry or application confirmations, responses to your questions, requests for information or documents, application-related status updates, and scheduling or callback coordination — and to document your consent. We do not use this consent to send promotional or marketing text messages.

Who it is shared with.

SMS consent is not shared with third parties. We share it only with the telecommunications providers and messaging aggregators that carry the message to your phone, and only so the message can be delivered. It is not shared with other third parties, affiliates, advertisers, or data brokers, and it is never sold.

Opting out and getting help.

Reply STOP to any message to opt out at any time. Reply HELP to any message for help. You can also email us at Office@afecapitalconnect.com to be removed. Opting out of text messages does not withdraw an application you already submitted, and does not stop us contacting you by phone or email about an inquiry you started.

The Site may use basic, non-identifying analytics events (for example, that an application was started or which step was reached) to understand how the Site is used and to improve it. These events are not linked to your name, email, phone number, or business name. The Site does not currently run third-party advertising trackers.

We retain application and contact-form information — including your Social Security Number and uploaded documents — for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy, including responding to your inquiry, processing your Application, and maintaining business records, and as required by law. You can ask us to delete your information at any time using the contact method below, subject to the exceptions described in “Your privacy choices.”

We do not currently operate an automated deletion schedule for this data (for example, we do not promise deletion after a fixed number of days). Deletion requests are handled manually upon request.

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect the information we collect. This includes encrypting data in transit (HTTPS/TLS), restricting access to systems that store applicant information to authorized personnel, and — specifically for your Social Security Number and uploaded documents — the additional protections described in “How we protect Social Security Numbers and documents” above (encryption at rest, private file storage rather than a public one, and access logging).

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Depending on where you’re located, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete the personal information we hold about you, or to opt out of certain uses. To make a request, use the contact form and describe what you’d like us to do. We’ll respond within a reasonable time and may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

AFE Capital Connect currently accepts applications from businesses in all 50 states and DC (see What You’ll Need for what the Application asks for).

The Site is intended for business owners and representatives and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “last updated” date above.

Questions about this policy or a privacy request? Use the contact form, or email Office@afecapitalconnect.com.

Mailing address (not a staffed office or location open to visitors): AFE Capital, 1280 Lexington Ave, FRNT 2, #1538, New York, NY 10028, United States.