SAFETY AND PRIVACY

The safety and security of our platform, systems and operations, is our top priority. The Žltý melón platform has been designed to provide you with the highest possible levels of protection and control over your personal information and financial investments.

Our platform and systems are secured to the highest level of IT security standards, using the same software and protocols that are relied on by banks and other financial institutions. Our information system is registered with the Office for Personal Data Protection of the Slovak Republic, in accordance with their rules and guidelines.

Security of personal data

All of the information you provide to us is processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of such Data (GDPR) and Act No. 18/2018 Z.z. on the Protection of Personal Data (the Act).

The personal information (data) you provide to us during the registration process and/or when completing the loan application process, is used only for the specific purpose(s) concerned and with your express consent. We will provide and transmit your personal information only to a selected and intended recipient(s), or as required by law, with any such transmission of your data being made only to such recipients that we have identified as being in compliance with the aforementioned regulations, and with all such transmissions of your personal data being made in accordance with these regulations and being undertaken only when necessary in order to fulfil our obligations to you and provide you with the services you have requested and consented to.

When using our platform and in your activities related to the loan auction on our platform you are anonymous and your actions are undertaken and identified by your chosen Username. Your personal details are safe. No personal data held about you is disclosed by our system. Loan auctions on our platform do not disclose any personal data we hold about borrowers, with loan auctions containing only general information about them and their loan, which cannot be used individually or in combination to identify an individual person. The identity and personal data of debtors, meaning those held to be in ‘default’ and violation of their Loan Agreement, may be disclosed to investors, but only in the event of late repayment of loans and in accordance with the General Terms and Conditions of Use for the Žltý melón Portal.

You can find detailed information on how we process and protect your personal information here.

Connection Security

When connecting to Žltý melón and managing your investments, auctions, and loans, your personal data are secured and encrypted with SSL technology (Secure Sockets Layer). This ensures that your data is transmitted exactly as you have entered them and that no one else will be able to intercept and access your data.

Žltý melón uses 256-bit SSL encryption.

Secure connections to our platform can be recognised by the 'lock' symbol and the use of the secure 'https' protocol, which are always visible in the URL of your browser when accessing our secure site.

Login and password security

Access to your account on Žltý melón, where you can manage your investments, auctions and loans, is possible only after after successful authentication of your account using the correct username and password. It is important that you do not share your username and your password, in particular, with anyone. Also, it is important that you do not use the same password for Žltý melón platform as you use for other services (e.g. forums, chat services, and free-email providers like Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.), because if these insecure website are ever hacked, your account on Žltý melón could be compromised too.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts to log into your account on Žltý melón, we will prevent further online access to your account for a set time period, during which we will notify you via email to alert you of this suspicious activity. You should never share your password with anyone under any circumstances, and please note that our customer service team will never ask for your password.

Your password is stored on our system in an encrypted format and it is always encrypted before being transmitted over the internet when you login to your account, meaning we never see your password in an unencrpyted format. Because it is stored in an encrpyted form, the only person that will ever know your password is you. Even if you request that we access your password we cannot do so, as your password is not accessible to anyone, including the administrators of the system, database and infrastructure.

If you forget to log out after using your account on Žltý melón, or if your computer is inactive for a certain period of time during your connection, our system will automatically log you out of your account for your security. Webpages displayed during a secure session on our platform are not saved in the temporary files on your computer, meaning it is not possible for someone else to access them from your computer. Nevertheless, we recommend that you always log out of your account when you have finished your your session on our site and when you are done using your computer. This is especially true if you use a computer that is accessed by other people, such as in a public library or internet café.

Your data security

Your data is stored in a secure database on secure servers located in the datacenter of Amazon Web Services (AWS), daughter comppany owned by Amazon. AWS is the biggest vendor of cloud based solutions in the world, with the highest security and reliability standards. The data stored in the database on their server can only be accessed by our employees, whose ability to acccess more detailed information about our users is strictly limited, meaning only a few senior employees have access to these data. The only employees with access to sensisitve user data are those who need them to ensure the sucessful operation of the Žltý melón platform, such as our our credit analysts. Our operating systems are maintained and updated regularly with the latest security patches. Our anti-virus software is also updated regularly and always contains the latest virus database available. To prevent unauthorized activities and attacks, our systems are protected by a secure firewall.

Increased security of sensitive transactions

For security reasons, you and your finances are secured using a two-factor authentication system based on uniquely generated validation codes.

To perform sensitive operations, such as sending or withdrawing funds or changing your personal details, it is not enough that you are logged into the system with your user name and password. These operations must also be confirmed on our system using one of your unique validation codes. This is a similar system to those used by banks and other financial institutions, where codes are sent via SMS, automated phone calls, generated via a smartphone app and fingerprint sensor, or using a card reader device.

Our system will generate a preliminary list of 100 random validation codes for you when you first register and setup your account. When you try to complete a sensitive transaction, the system will ask you to confirm it by entering a specific code from the list of 100, such as code number 44. Each code will be used only once, after which is it no longer valid. After all of your unique validation codes have been used, the system will re-generate an additional 100 random validation codes. If your codes are ever accidentally lost or stolen, please contact us immediately. After we have verified your identity through a special process, the old codes will be blocked and a new list of codes will be generated for you.

Your investments are safe

All loan applicants go through a rigorous verification process to confirm their identity and personal details, as well as a comprehensive asssessment of their financial history and current financial situation. Only applicants with a clearly verified background, good financial history and the ability to repay their loan, are allowed to borrow on Žltý melón and set up a loan auction. Although investors in the auction do not know the exact identity of the borrower, they are provided with all of the relevant information about the borrower's loan application and financial situation, which they need to make their investment decisions. All information bout a borrower and their financial situation, which we provide to investors in a loan auction, has been verified during our comprehensive assessment of the borrower and their loan application.

The level of risk you are exposed to when you invest on Žltý melón is tightly controlled at all times. Žltý melón should not be confused with other non-bank financial institutions that provide loans to risky low-income customers, at excessively high interest rates. The portfolio of borrowers on Žltý melón is much more similar to the type of customers that banks serve and providde loans to. The strict criteria we use in our assessment of loan applications and in our credit risk scoring model, are carefully tuned to serving this group of customers. Borrowers choose to take out a loan on Žltý melón because of the lower interest rates and better terms, rather than because they cannot get a loan from a bank. Maintaining low levels of defaults over the long-term for our loan portfolio, is absolutely criticial for the success of our business and services.

The maximum amount that a person can borrow on Žltý melón is set on an individual basis, according to a person's current financial situation as well as their previous use and good repayment of other loans. A person may not borrow more than a maximum limit of all loans in total on Žltý melón, regardless of how many loans it is split across. In order to become an investor on Žltý melón, you only need to deposit € 25. At the same time, if you want to invest seriously on Žltý melón, it is recommended that you spread your investment between at least 30 borrowers. The more borrowers whose loans you invest in, the more your investment is diversified.

Having sufficient diversification of your investment portfolio is crucial to minimise your risks and earn stable returns on your investment, as potential shortfalls in installments from one borrower will only minimally affect the profitability of your entire portfolio. For this reason and to help protect less experienced investors, we do not allow one investor to invest more than € 250 into any one loan (or 25% of loan value once the investor reached a higher diversification of portfolio).

You can read more about this in the section on Investment safety.