Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS THE SITE. BY USING THE SITE YOU AGREE THAT THESE TERMS OF USE CONSTITUTE A LEGAL AGREEMENT (THE “AGREEMENT”) BETWEEN YOU AND GOBANKINGRATES.

These Terms of Use (the “Terms of Use”) apply to the GOBankingRates website, www.gobankingrates.com (the “Site”), operated by GOBankingRates (“GOBankingRates” or “We”), including all means by which GOBankingRates provides content or services from the Site to you, such as accessing the Site online and delivery of content from the Site to you at your request (the “Service” or “Services”).

These Terms of Use are a license that governs your use of the Services, including your use of content available on the Site (the “Content”) and the Services and your interaction with the Site. This Agreement is in addition to your obligations under the applicable Content License Agreement (if any). In the event of any conflict between this Agreement and the Content License Agreement, the Content License Agreement will control as to the conflicting terms.

GOBankingRates may modify these Terms of Use from time to time in its sole discretion. Each time you use or access the Site or Services or Content from the Site via the Services you will be deemed to have accepted any changes to these Terms of Use. GOBankingRates shall have no obligation to notify you of any such changes other than posting such modifications on the Site, but We reserve the right (at our discretion) to provide you notice of such changes to any e-mail address you may have provided to GOBankingRates.

Ownership

The Site is owned and operated by GOBankingRates. All aspects of the Site, including, but not limited to the design and “look and feel” thereof and all the Content featured or displayed thereon, including, but not limited to text, graphics, photographs, images, moving images, animation, sound, illustrations and software and compilations thereof are, as between you and GOBankingRates, owned by GOBankingRates and/or its licensors or content providers.

All elements of the Site, including but not limited to, the Content thereof are protected by trade dress, copyright, moral rights, trademark and other laws relating to property rights. Except as explicitly permitted under separate agreement with GOBankingRates, no portion or element of the Site or the Content may be reproduced, distributed, modified, publicly performed or displayed, transmitted, reverse engineered, decompiled, sold, sublicensed or otherwise exploited via any means or in any way and the Site, its Content and all related rights shall remain the exclusive property of GOBankingRates and/or its Licensors and/or Content providers unless otherwise expressly agreed.

Use of the Site and Services

You may not either directly or through the use of any device, software, internet site, web-based service or other means remove, alter, bypass, avoid, interfere with, or circumvent (i) any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices marked on the Content, (ii) any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with the Content including geo-filtering mechanisms, or (iii) any advertisement inserted on the Site and/or within the Content. You may not either directly or through the use of any device, software, internet site, web-based service or other means copy, download, stream capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, distribute, upload, publish, modify, translate, broadcast, perform, display, sell, transmit or retransmit the Content unless expressly permitted by GOBankingRates in writing. You may not incorporate the Content into, or stream or retransmit the Content via, any hardware or software application or make it available via frames or in-line links, or scrape or aggregate Content from the Site. You may not build a business, in whole or in part, utilizing any portion of the Content, whether or not for profit. The Content covered by these restrictions includes without limitation any text, graphics, layout, interface, logos, photographs, audio and video materials, and stills. In addition, you are strictly prohibited from creating derivative works or materials that otherwise are derived from or based on in any way on the Content, including montages, mash-ups and similar videos, wallpaper, desktop themes, greeting cards, and merchandise. This prohibition applies even if you intend to give away the derivative materials free of charge.

To the extent that GOBankingRates makes Content available to you via a widget, embedded player, rss feed or other technology that allows you to embed or stream Content on or to another site, you may not modify, enhance, remove, interfere with, or otherwise alter in any way any portion of such technology, any digital rights management mechanism, device, or other content protection or access control measure associated with such technology, or any advertisement delivered via such technology.

You are also prohibited from disabling, reverse engineering, modifying, interfering with or otherwise circumventing any technology to allow users to view the Content without: (i) displaying visibly both the Content and all surrounding elements (including the graphical user interface, any advertising, copyright notices, and trademarks); and (ii) having full access to all functionality permitting viewing of the Content, including, without limitation, all video quality and display functionality and all interactive, elective or click-through advertising functionality.

FOR THE PROTECTION OF GOBANKINGRATES AND ITS LICENSORS AND CONTENT PROVIDERS, CONTENT MAY BE VISIBLY, INVISIBLY, OR ELECTRONICALLY WATERMARKED AND MAY INCLUDE THE USE OF DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE CONTENT. SUCH TECHNOLOGY MAY PERMIT ONLINE CRAWLING OR TRACKING OF CONTENT OBTAINED FROM GOBANKINGRATES AND/OR OTHER METHODS OF PROTECTING, MONITORING, OR TRACKING THE UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THE CONTENT (“RIGHTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS” OR “RMS”). If you do not consent to GOBankingRates’ use of RMS, do not use the Site or any Content found therein. You shall not knowingly disable any such technology or tool. You may not remove any copyright or other proprietary notices contained in the Content, caption information, or any other material on this Site.

Additionally, unless authorized by GOBankingRates in writing, you may not:

• deep link or employ software or any automatic device, technology or algorithm, to “crawl,” “scrape,” search or monitor the Site and/or retrieve or copy Content or related information;
• violate the mechanical restrictions of the Site, or bypass other measures employed to prevent or limit access to the Site or Content by hacking or other means;
• copy, redirect, or exploit the Site or any Content;
• probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or of the network supporting the Site, or seek information on visitors to the Site or personal information of our customers; or
• use any device, software or routine that would interfere with the proper functioning of the Site, or any transaction conducted via the Site.

Access to the Site and Availability of Services

You must be 18 years of age to be eligible to use this Site unsupervised and We ask that minors and children do not submit any personal information to us. By using this Site unsupervised, and/or registering for an account, you warrant that you are 18 years of age or older. This Site and the Services intended for use by residents in the United States of America, its territories and possessions (“U.S.”).

You are responsible for any charges incurred in obtaining access to the Site and the Services.

Registration Rules and Requirements

Registration

Registration with the Site grants you certain privileges. Registration may be required to access certain Services or Content or to receive email alerts or other interactive or on demand Services. You agree to provide true, accurate and complete information about yourself, and to update this information when it changes. If you provide any information that is untrue or inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, or if GOBankingRates suspects that your information is untrue or inaccurate, not current, or incomplete, or for any other reason, GOBankingRates may, in its sole discretion, suspend or terminate your membership and/or access to certain Content or refuse current or future access to the Service. Any personal information supplied hereunder will be subject to the terms of our Privacy Policy. You shall be liable for payment for all Content downloaded by others using your account, with or without your permission and knowledge prior to the time that you notify GOBankingRates of any unauthorized use. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for damages, fees or costs resulting from all uses of your account, whether actually or expressly authorized by you.

Passwords

Should GOBankingRates provide to you a password that allows you to access certain parts of the Site or for the Services, you will be solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and your account information, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree that you will immediately notify GOBankingRates of any unauthorized use of your password or account, or any other breach of security, and that you will log off of the Site or the Services at the end of each session to prevent fraud on your account by third parties.

Communications from the Site

GOBankingRates may send you newsletters or other communications. You have the option to unsubscribe from such emails. GOBankingRates reserves the right to send you emails regarding your account or emails containing service updates or other communications relating to the operation of the Site or Services. See information details in Privacy Policy.

Monitoring

GOBankingRates has no obligation to monitor the use of the Site or Services by members. You acknowledge and agree that GOBankingRates reserves the right to, and may from time to time, monitor any and all information transmitted or received through the Site or Services for operational and other purposes. During monitoring, information may be examined, recorded, copied, and used for authorized purposes in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Use of the Site or Services constitutes consent to such monitoring.

Legal Bases for Processing (for EEA users)

If you are an individual in the European Economic Area (EEA), we collect and process information about you only where we have a legal basis for doing so under applicable EU laws. The legal basis depends on the services you use and how you use them. This means we collect and use your information only where:

• It is necessary for the performance of a contract, such as to provide you with the services you requested, including to operate the services, provide customer support and personalized features, and to protect the safety and security of the services, including all processing necessary for the performance of our contract(s) with you;
• It satisfies a legitimate interest that is not outweighed by your data protection rights and interests, such as for research and development, to market and promote our services, and to protect our legal rights and interests;
• You give us consent to do so for a specific purpose; or
• We need to process your data to comply with a legal obligation.

Your data may be transferred to and maintained on computers located outside of your state, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of your jurisdiction. All of our information, including the data we collect about you described in this policy, is stored in the United States of America and may be processed in and outside of the United States. By using the Site, you consent to the transfer of such information to countries outside of your country of residence, which may have different data protection rules than those of your country.

DISCLAIMERS

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

• THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, GOBANKINGRATES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
• GOBANKINGRATES MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT: (i) THE SITE SHALL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (ii) THE SITE SHALL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ERROR-FREE OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; (iii) THE CONTENT OR THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SITE SHALL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS; (v) ANY ERRORS IN THE CONTENT OR SITE SHALL BE CORRECTED; AND (vi) THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT IS MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR DOES NOT INFRINGE UPON ANOTHER’S RIGHTS.
• NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM GOBANKINGRATES OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY, UNLESS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS OF USE OR IN ANY APPLICABLE AGREEMENT, BETWEEN YOU AND GOBANKINGRATES.

You agree that GOBankingRates is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or on any of the Services or combination thereof, including any injury or damage to users or to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading materials in connection with the Services. Under no circumstances shall GOBankingRates be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from use of the Site, from any Content posted on or through GOBankingRates, or from the conduct of any users of the Services, whether online or offline.

Despite our efforts to provide accurate information, this Site may contain technical or other mistakes, inaccuracies or typographical errors. Additionally, this Site and its Content may include historically and culturally important images and text that may contain subjects that reflect the social attitudes and circumstances of a particular time or location. You should be aware that your search may display results containing content that may seem inappropriate to its context, or text that could be potentially offensive. You are solely responsible for determining whether your use of any Content requires the consent of any third party or the license of any additional rights, and you should not rely solely on the information provided by GOBankingRates or its licensors or content providers. If you are unsure whether additional third-party rights are needed for your use, you are responsible for consulting with competent rights management professionals or legal counsel.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NEITHER GOBANKINGRATES NOR ITS LICENSORS OR CONTENT PROVIDERS SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SITE OR THE CONTENT THEREON UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN AN APPLICABLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND GOBANKINGRATES. WITH RESPECT TO ALL OTHER CLAIMS RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SITE OR CONTENT, UNLESS OTHERWISE SET FORTH IN A LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR USE OF THE CONTENT WITH GOBANKINGRATES, GOBANKINGRATES’ LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE LESSER OF THE AMOUNT PAID TO GOBANKINGRATES BY YOU, IF ANY, OR $500.

THE LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND DISCLAIMERS IN THIS SECTION AND ELSEWHERE IN THESE TERMS OF USE APPLY TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless GOBankingRates, its parent and subsidiary companies and divisions, its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, suits or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or accruing from your breach of these Terms of Use or your unauthorized use of the Site, the Content and/or other related rights.

Termination

GOBankingRates may, in its sole discretion, terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) and/or your use of or license to the Site or Services (or any portion thereof), or remove and discard any information stored, sent, or received via the Site or Services without prior notice and for any reason, including, but not limited to: (i) permitting another person or entity to use your Registration information to access a Site or Service, (ii) any other access or use of the Site or Service except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, (iii) any violation of the terms and conditions of these Terms of Use including the rules and regulations relating to the use of, the Content, Site or Services, or (iv) tampering with or alteration of any of the Content, Site or Services. You may terminate your Registration by closing your Registration account. Termination, suspension, or cancellation of these Terms of Use or your access rights shall not affect any right or relief to which GOBankingRates may be entitled, at law or in equity. Upon termination of these Terms of Use, all rights granted to you will automatically terminate.

Infringement Policy

GOBankingRates respects the rights of all copyright holders and in this regard, GOBankingRates has adopted and implemented a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of users and account holders who infringe the rights of copyright holders. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide GOBankingRates’ Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512:

1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
2. Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;
4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;
5. A statement that the complaining party has a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

For copyright inquiries under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act please contact us via e-mail at info@gobankingrates.com.

E-SIGN CONSENT

By clicking the “Sign Up” button on the Site, you adopt such as your electronic signature, and consent and agree that GOBankingRates.com may provide you with electronic communications and disclosures (collectively, “Communications”) via email, by making them accessible on the GOBankingRates.com Site; and your electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if you signed them in writing. If you wish to revoke/withdraw your consent at any time, please contact us at info@GoBankingRates.com. Withdrawal of your consent may result in termination of your access to the GOBankingRates.com Site. Any withdrawal will be effective only after a reasonable period of time to process your withdrawal. You are responsible for providing us with true and accurate information, including your contact information. To access and retain the Communications, you will need the following: computer or mobile device with access/use of the internet or mobile connectivity and an operating system capable of receiving, accessing, and displaying Communications; a supported internet browser; sufficient storage space to save Communications and/or a printer to print them; and a valid email account and software to access such email account. You have the right to receive Communications in paper form. Please contact us at info@ GOBankingRates.com to request a paper copy of any Communications at no charge. A request will not be treated as withdrawal of consent to receive electronic Communications.

Governing Law; Arbitration

You agree that: (i) www.gobankingrates.com shall be deemed solely based in the State of California; and (ii) www.gobankingrates.com shall be deemed a passive website that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over GOBankingRates, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than the State of California. This Privacy Policy is to be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California, without regard for principles of conflicts of laws. Any civil action, claim, dispute or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Privacy Policy shall be referred to final and binding arbitration, before a single arbitrator, under the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association in Los Angeles County, California.

THE PARTIES AGREE TO WAIVE THE RIGHT TO BRING OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY CONSOLIDATED OR CLASS ACTION AND AGREE THAT ALL FORMS OF CLASS ACTION OR CLASS ARBITRATION ARE EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED. THE PARTIES UNDERSTAND THEY WILL NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY A COURT OR A JURY AND THAT THE INFORMATION THAT CAN BE OBTAINED IN DISCOVERY FROM EACH OTHER OR FROM THIRD PERSONS IN ARBITRATION IS GENERALLY MORE LIMITED THAN IN A LAWSUIT. IN ADDITION, OTHER RIGHTS THAT THE PARTIES WOULD HAVE IN COURT MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ARBITRATION. THEREFORE, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO TO COURT TO ASSERT OR DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS AND YOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN OR BRING CLASS ACTIONS. BY USING WWW.GOBANKINGRATES.COM YOU CONSENT TO THESE RESTRICTIONS.

You and GOBankingRates shall select the arbitrator, and if you and GOBankingRates are unable to reach agreement on selection of the arbitrator within thirty (30) days after the notice of arbitration is served, then the American Arbitration Association shall select the arbitrator. Arbitration shall not commence until the party requesting it has deposited One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) with the arbitrator for the arbitrator’s fees and costs. The party requesting arbitration shall advance such sums as are required from time to time by the arbitrator to pay the arbitrator’s fees and costs until the prevailing party is determined or the parties have agreed in writing to an alternate allocation of fees and costs.

Judgment upon any award rendered by the arbitrator shall be final, binding and conclusive upon you and GOBankingRates and your and GOBankingRates’s respective administrators, executors, legal representatives, successors and assigns, and may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Notwithstanding the previous sentence, in no event shall either you or GOBankingRates be entitled to punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages and both you and GOBankingRates hereby waive your and GOBankingRates’s respective rights to any punitive, special, indirect or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, damages for any loss of profit, revenue or business.

Should a dispute arise and should the arbitration provisions herein become inapplicable or unenforceable, or in any instance of any lawsuit between you and GOFreeCredit.com, jurisdiction over and venue of any suit shall be exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in Los Angeles County, California.

Last Updated: August 14, 2020