Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Forward Thinkers Foundation (“Flint,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, shares, and protects your information when you use the Flint mobile app and related services (the “Service”). Flint lets groups pool money into a shared balance, spend it with a group card, and keep a fair, transparent record of who has paid in and who owes. Because Flint moves money, some of the data we handle is financial and sensitive — this policy is specific about that.
Flint is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking, card issuing, and payment processing are provided by Stripe, Inc. and its banking partners. When you link a bank account or move money, Stripe and its partners also process your data under their own privacy policies.
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Account & identity: your name, phone number, email address, and a profile photo or avatar you choose.
- Verification (KYC): to comply with financial regulations, our partners may collect your date of birth, address, and government identifiers (such as the last four digits of your SSN) to verify your identity before you can move money.
- Group activity: the groups you create or join, contributions, split details, memos you write, and messages or nudges you send within a group.
Information created as you use Flint
- Transaction records: contributions, card spending, splits, withdrawals, and each member’s running balance position in a group.
- Device & usage data: device model, operating system, app version, a device identifier we generate, and basic in-app events used to keep the Service running and secure.
- Security signals: data used to detect fraud and abuse, such as unusual withdrawal patterns or bank-account changes.
2. Bank account & financial data
To fund a balance or receive a payout, you connect a bank account. You can do this two ways, and both run through Stripe:
- Bank login (recommended): you sign in to your bank through Stripe Financial Connections, powered by data providers such as Plaid or Finicity. This lets Stripe confirm your account and, with your permission, read information like your account and routing numbers, account owner name, and balances to verify the account.
- Manual entry: you enter your routing and account number yourself, and we confirm the account through Stripe (including, where applicable, small verification deposits).
We don’t store your raw bank credentials or full account numbers. Flint stores only a secure token that identifies the linked account (issued by Stripe) plus the account holder’s legal name for verification. Your bank login and full account details are handled by Stripe and its data providers, not kept on Flint’s servers.
We use this financial data only to link and verify your account, move money you authorize, and protect against fraud — never to sell it or use it for advertising.
3. How we use information
- Provide the Service: create and run groups, hold pooled balances, issue and service the group card, and process contributions, splits, transfers, and withdrawals.
- Verify identity & comply with law: meet Know-Your-Customer, anti-money-laundering, and other legal obligations that apply to money movement.
- Keep the ledger fair: calculate each member’s position (ahead, even, or owes) and send reminders about balances owed.
- Protect users: detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, account takeover, and abuse, including reviewing unusual withdrawals or bank-account changes.
- Communicate: send transactional messages (receipts, security alerts, nudges) and, if you opt in, product updates.
- Improve Flint: understand how the app is used and fix problems.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your financial data for advertising.
5. Groups & shared visibility
Flint is built around shared money, so some information is visible to the other people in a group you join:
- Your name and avatar, and that you’re a member of the group.
- Your contributions to the shared balance and your current position (ahead, even, or owes).
- Group card purchases and how they’re attributed across members.
To protect your privacy, Flint limits what others see: for example, merchant details of another member’s personal-scope activity are not exposed to the rest of the group, and you can only ever withdraw your own balance. Your linked bank account, verification documents, contact details, and personal financial data are never shown to other group members.
6. Data retention
We keep your information for as long as your account is active and as long as we need it to provide the Service. Because Flint moves money, some records must be kept longer:
- Financial & transaction records are retained as required by financial regulations (typically several years) even after you close your account.
- Verification data is retained as required for compliance and fraud-prevention purposes.
- Other personal data is deleted or anonymized when it is no longer needed, on a scheduled basis, unless we’re required to keep it.
When you delete your account, we remove or anonymize personal data that we’re not legally required to retain.
7. How we protect your data
- Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Sensitive banking data is tokenized and handled by Stripe — Flint doesn’t store raw account numbers or bank logins.
- Access to personal data is restricted, and money-movement actions are protected by controls such as step-up verification for higher-risk actions (like changing your payout bank or making a large withdrawal), review windows on new bank accounts, and fraud monitoring.
No system is perfectly secure, but we work continuously to protect your information and to limit the impact if something goes wrong.
8. Your rights & choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct inaccurate information.
- Delete your account and personal data (subject to records we must keep by law).
- Object to or restrict certain processing, and opt out of non-essential communications.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@payflint.app. You can also manage your profile and delete your account from within the app. We do not sell personal information.
9. Children’s privacy
Flint is not intended for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a minor has provided us information, contact us and we’ll delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we’ll update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Your continued use of Flint after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.
11. Contact us
Questions about this policy or your data? Reach us at:
- Forward Thinkers Foundation
- Email: support@payflint.app