This Privacy Policy explains how Bear Merchant, Inc. ("Bear Merchant", "we", "us") collects, uses, discloses and safeguards information when you visit https://bearmerchant.com, apply for a merchant account, or use our payments services. This is a general template and does not constitute legal advice; consult counsel before publishing.
1. Information we collect
We collect information you provide directly, information generated through your use of our services, and information from third parties such as acquiring banks and identity-verification providers.
- Business & identity data: company details, beneficial owner information, government identifiers and documents used for KYC/KYB.
- Transaction data: payment amounts, tokens, network responses and settlement details (we do not store raw card numbers outside our PCI environment).
- Contact data: name, email, phone and messages you send us.
- Technical data: IP address, device and browser information, and usage analytics.
2. How we use information
- To provide, maintain and improve our payments services.
- To underwrite, onboard and monitor merchant accounts.
- To detect, prevent and investigate fraud and abuse.
- To comply with legal, regulatory and card-network obligations.
- To communicate with you about your account and, where permitted, marketing.
3. Legal bases for processing
Where applicable law requires, we process personal data on the bases of contract performance, legitimate interests (such as fraud prevention), legal obligations, and consent (which you may withdraw at any time).
4. Sharing & disclosure
We share information with acquiring banks, card networks, identity and fraud-prevention providers, infrastructure vendors, and authorities where legally required. We do not sell personal information.
5. Cookies & similar technologies
We use strictly necessary, functional and analytics cookies to operate the site, remember preferences (such as light/dark theme) and understand usage. You can control cookies through your browser settings; disabling some cookies may affect functionality.
6. Data retention
We retain information for as long as needed to provide services and to meet legal, tax, accounting and regulatory requirements, after which it is deleted or anonymized.
7. Security
We maintain administrative, technical and physical safeguards including encryption in transit and at rest, tokenization of card data, access controls and continuous monitoring, consistent with PCI DSS Level 1 and SOC 2 practices.
8. Your rights
Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or port your personal data, and to object to certain processing. To exercise these rights, contact us using the details below.
9. International data transfers
We operate globally and may transfer information across borders using appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses where required.
10. Contact us
Questions about this policy or your data? Email support@bearmerchant.com or write to 2100 Market Street, Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94114.