New to finance niche - what legals do i need?

[ianhar]

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Hi everyone, i'm very new to the finance niche and i'm currently about to launch an US focused affiliate site. However, I want to also have a UK section on there and was wandering what legal stuff do i need to sort our to do this both in US and UK? I've read that you need Consumer Credit and Data Protection etc? Is this legal cover that I have to apply for or something?

Many Thanks, Ian

[Shane]

Hola.. it depends what you are looking to do, if you wish to merely act as an affiliate then as long as you don't personally/professionally recommend a product as being better, more appropriate for one scenario than another etc. then you shouldn't need anything

if you are collecting personal information and then forwarding that to the broker of your choice then AFAIK you'll need a consumer credit licence (as well as data protection act registration)

Basically if you don't say one thing is better than another and the user clicks a link and ends up on the merchant/broker site rather than fills personal information in on your site then you can get on and do it without any licences or registrations.

[ianhar]

Hi Shane, brilliant! Thanks for clearing that up. Is there any benefit to collecting the data and forwarding it on as opposed to just sending them straight to the merchants site?

thanks

[Michael_Anthony]

Shane is not entirely right here - no offence Shane.

A Data Protection License is absolutely necessary if you collect any kind of personal details online, which nearly all lead generators do of course.

The Consumer Credit License position is slightly more complex..

- If you collect leads which you then sell on a CPA (Cost per Lead) basis then you are not required to be licensed.

- If you collect leads which you then pass on to a lender/broker for free and subsequently only get paid if a deal completes (commonly known as a "back end" deal) then you DO need a license.

The position is also somewhat muddied by the fact that many brokers/lenders will require you to have the CCL even though you are dealing with them on a CPA basis.

There is also an argument for having the CCL as many believe that it inspires consumer confidence. I have to say that our own experience over many years and over many hundreds of thousands of leads delivered is that it makes not one jot of difference, much like the use of secure sites (ssl/https).

Having split tested ssl versus "unsecure" sites and CCL licensed versus non licensed sites in the past, mainly because our members raised the questions on our forum, we are utterly convinced that the difference in conversions is at best minimal. Our testing was carried out scientifically, with the ONLY changes in the site/content being the inclusion of CCL or ssl as appropriate.

As always, it's on site copy, ad copy, USP's and key product benefits that convert visitors, not, it would appear, the presence of CCL/ssl.

In conclusion, and with apologies for rambling on, my advice would be to get the DPA license asap, and then wait and see if you actually make money from your UK traffic before going for the CCL, if at all.

Hope that helps.

p.s. Any "experts" out there who wish to contradict me on any of this are of course welcome to do so, but you'll be wrong

[ianhar]

Michael, thanks a lot for your explanation. It's particularly interesting about needing DP even if your just collecting emails to build a list. I've build a few lists in different niches other than finance and i've never known that, cheers.

In your opinion , seeing as though i'm just starting in this niche would i be better just going for the cpa offers and sending the prospects straight to the merchant?

Also does the consumer credit license only apply if you're aiming at the UK market?

Thanks again

[Michael_Anthony]

Yes and Yes.

Although I'd caution against sending the visitor straight to the merchant's site - the minute they see a phone number you've lost them.

Better to collect the leads yourself and then send data to the merchant, which can be either an automated or manual process, depending on your/the merchant's preferences.

We have loads of stuff about this on our own forum, which you can join for free if you wish.

[Shane]

No offence taken always good to learn new things..

I did have a CCL 4-5 years ago but didn't renew it after being shafted over once too many times by brokers big and small, well known and not so well known.

Was under the impression if you collected data and then you personally chose where to submit it you had to have a CCL, however it's good to find out that's not the case if it's an upfront CPA, however just what difference that makes to the client if it's back end CPA /% slice is beyond me lol

Is this a recent change to the CCL or have I been misinterpreting it for years ?

[ianhar]

Some great advice hear guys thanks heaps, it didn't occur to me about the phone number I totally overlooked that one.

Say I had a form on my site that collected the info and then i sent the lead to the merchant. Does it look suspect when someone else from another company rings them?

[ianhar]

Also I already have an american focued site which i purchased lst week. However i'm now realising that this market seems to be more seperated by country. Do you think I could have a UK section on my site or would you just create a seperate UK based one? Sorry if these are dumb questions but this market seems quite different thatn any other i'm operated in - cheers

[Michael_Anthony]

It will work best if you are able to tell the applicant who will be calling them, which we usually achieve by having the merchant's name on the "Thank you" page which they will see after hitting "submit"

A separate site for the UK is a much better option - the terminology is completely different, even though the products are essentially the same e.g. USA=Home Equity Loan, UK=Secured Loan. Same products, but called differnt things either side of the pond.

And Shane, to my knowledge, or at least for the 5 odd years I've been in the business, it's always been that way.

[ianhar]

Thanks Michael, you been a great help. Now i can go and find some good merchants who'll want my leads

cheers, Ian

[Michael_Anthony]

Many thanks - glad to be of service.

We can take some of your leads. See the "Current Bids" section of our school site for details.

[ianhar]

cool, i'll check it out now - thanks