Terms of Use for Blackcurrant Finance Ltd

Welcome to Blackcurrant Finance, an online accounting and finance management service. These Terms of Use are intended to explain our obligations as a service provider and Your obligations as a client. Please read them carefully.
These Terms are binding on any use of the Service and apply to you from the time that Blackcurrant provides you.
The Blackcurrant Service will evolve over time based on user feedback. These Terms are not intended to answer every question or address every issue raised by the use of the Blackcurrant Service. Blackcurrant reserves the right to change these terms at any time, effective upon the posting of modified terms and Blackcurrant will make every effort to communicate these changes to You via email or notification via the Website.
It is likely the terms of use will change over time. It is Your obligation to ensure that You have read, understood and agree to the most recent terms available on the Website.
By registering to use the Service you acknowledge that You have read and understood these Terms and have the authority to act on behalf of any person for whom You are using the Service. You are deemed to have agreed to these Terms on behalf of any entity for whom you use the Service.

These Terms were last updated on 1st April 2022.

 

1.Definitions

“Agreement” means these Terms of Use.
“Access Fee” means the monthly fee (excluding any taxes and duties) payable by You in accordance with the Fee Schedule.
“Confidential Information” includes all information exchanged between the parties to this Agreement, whether in writing, electronically or orally, including the Service but does not include information which is, or becomes, publicly available other than through unauthorized disclosure by the other party.
“Data” means any data inputted by You or with Your authority into the Website.
“Fee Schedule” means the information relating to subscriptions and billing set out on the Blackcurrant subscriptions and billing pages on the website, or any other page(s) on the Website notified by Blackcurrant, which may be updated or amended by Blackcurrant from time to time.
“Intellectual Property Right” means any patent, trade mark, service mark, copyright, moral right, right in a design, know-how and any other intellectual or industrial property rights, anywhere in the world whether or not registered.
“Service” means the online accounting and personal finance management services made available (as may be changed or updated from time to time by Blackcurrant) via the Website.
“Website” means the Internet site at the domain www.Blackcurrant.com or any other site operated by Blackcurrant.
“Blackcurrant” means Blackcurrant Finance Limited or its website, which is the trading website of Blackcurrant Finance Ltd. Blackcurrant Finance Ltd uses is a registered company in England and Wales with a Company Registration No. 13226833.
Contact details for the Blackcurrant Ltd are
73 Woodside Rd, Amersham, HP6 6AA,
Telephone: +44 (0) 800 860 6765 – (Freephone Number from landlines),
Website: www.blackcurrantfinance.com.
“Invited User” means any person or entity, other than the Subscriber, that uses the Service with the authorization of the Subscriber from time to time.
“Subscriber” means the person who registers to use the Service, and, where the context permits, includes any entity on whose behalf that person registers to use the Service.
“You” means the Subscriber, and where the context permits, an Invited User.
“Your” has a corresponding meaning.

 

2. Use of Software

Blackcurrant grants You the right to access and use the Service via the Website with the particular user roles available to You according to Your subscription type. This right is non-exclusive, non-transferable, and limited by and subject to this Agreement. You acknowledge and agree that, subject to any applicable written agreement between the Subscriber and the Invited Users, or any other applicable laws:

  • The Subscriber determines who is an Invited User and what level of user role access to the relevant organization and Service that Invited User has
  • The Subscriber is responsible for all Invited Users’ use of the Service
  • The Subscriber controls each Invited User’s level of access to the relevant organization and Service at all times and can revoke or change an Invited User’s access, or level of access, at any time and for any reason, in which case that person or entity will cease to be an Invited User or shall have that different level of access, as the case may be
  • If there is any dispute between a Subscriber and an Invited User regarding access to any organization or Service, the Subscriber shall decide what access or level of access to the relevant Data or Service that Invited User shall have, if any.

 

3. Your Obligations

  1. Payment obligations:
    An invoice for the Access Fee will be issued each month in accordance with the details set out in the Fee Schedule. Blackcurrant will continue invoicing You in accordance with the Fee Schedule until this Agreement is terminated in accordance with clause 8.All Blackcurrant invoices will be sent to You, or to a Billing Contact whose details are provided by You, by email. Payment of all amounts specified in an invoice must be paid in accordance with the Fee Schedule. You are responsible for payment of all taxes and duties in addition to the Access Fee.
  2. Preferential pricing or discounts:
    You may from time to time be offered preferential pricing or discounts for the Access Fees as a result of the number of organizations that You have added to the Service or that have been added with Your authority or as a result of Your use of the Service (‘Organizations’). Eligibility for such preferential pricing or discounts is conditional upon Your acceptance of responsibility for payment of any Access Fees in relation to all of Your Organizations. Without prejudice to any other rights that Blackcurrant may have under these Terms or at law, Blackcurrant reserves the right to render invoices for the full (non-discounted) Access Fees due or suspend or terminate Your use of the Service in respect of any or all of Your Organizations in the event that any invoices for those Access Fees are not paid in full in accordance with the requirements set out in the Fee Schedule.
  3. General obligations:
    You must only use the Service and Website for Your own lawful internal business purposes, in accordance with these Terms and any notice sent by Blackcurrant or condition posted on the Website. You may use the Service and Website on behalf of others or in order to provide services to others but if You do so you must ensure that You are authorized to do so and that all persons for whom or to whom services are provided comply with and accept all terms of this Agreement that apply to You.
    • Automated Bank transaction data delivered into Your Blackcurrant account:
      Where available, automated bank account transaction data feeds are generally provided to You free of charge. However, Blackcurrant reserves the right to pass on any charges related to the provision of bank data on a case-by-case basis at Blackcurrant’s sole discretion. Blackcurrant would first inform You via email to indicate what those charges are likely to be (as such charges may vary depending on Your bank and Your volume of bank data). You have the option to decide to discontinue use of automated bank data at any time. To exercise this option, you must give Blackcurrant sufficient prior notice of which automated bank account transaction data feeds you want to discontinue. Upon receiving such notice Blackcurrant will arrange for such feeds to be terminated in accordance with each bank’s usual practices.
    • Access conditions:
      You must ensure that all usernames and passwords required to access the Service are kept secure and confidential. You must immediately notify Blackcurrant of any unauthorized use of Your passwords or any other breach of security and Blackcurrant will reset Your password and You must take all other actions that Blackcurrant reasonably deems necessary to maintain or enhance the security of Blackcurrant’s computing systems and networks and Your access to the Services.
      As a condition of these Terms, when accessing and using the Services, You must:

      • not attempt to undermine the security or integrity of Blackcurrant’s computing systems or networks or, where the Services are hosted by a third party, that third party’s computing systems and networks
      • not use, or misuse, the Services in any way which may impair the functionality of the Services or Website, or other systems used to deliver the Services or impair the ability of any other user to use the Services or Website
      • not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any materials other than those to which You have been given express permission to access or to the computer system on which the Services are hosted
        1. not transmit, or input into the Website, any: files that may damage any other person’s computing devices or software, content that may be offensive, or material or Data in violation of any law (including Data or other material protected by copyright or trade secrets which You do not have the right to use) and
        2. not attempt to modify, copy, adapt, reproduce, disassemble, decompile or reverse engineer any computer programs used to deliver the Services or to operate the Website except as is strictly necessary to use either of them for normal operation.
    • Usage Limitations:
      Use of the Service may be subject to limitations, including but not limited to monthly transaction volumes and the number of calls You are permitted to make against Blackcurrant’s application programming interface. Any such limitations will be advised.
    • Communication Conditions:
      As a condition of these Terms, if You use any communication tools available through the Website (such as any forum, chat room or message center), You agree only to use such communication tools for lawful and legitimate purposes. You must not use any such communication tool for posting or disseminating any material unrelated to the use of the Services, including (but not limited to): offers of goods or services for sale, unsolicited commercial e-mail, files that may damage any other person’s computing devices or software, content that may be offensive to any other users of the Services or the Website, or material in violation of any law (including material that is protected by copyright or trade secrets which You do not have the right to use).
      When You make any communication on the Website, You represent that You are permitted to make such communication. Blackcurrant is under no obligation to ensure that the communications on the Website are legitimate or that they are related only to the use of the Services. As with any other web-based forum, You must exercise caution when using the communication tools available on the Website. However, Blackcurrant does reserve the right to remove any communication at any time in its sole discretion.
    • Indemnity:
      You indemnify Blackcurrant against: all claims, costs, damage and loss arising from Your breach of any of these Terms or any obligation You may have to Blackcurrant, including (but not limited to) any costs relating to the recovery of any Access Fees that are due but have not been paid by You.

 

4. Confidentiality and Privacy

  1. Confidentiality:
    Unless the relevant party has the prior written consent of the other or unless required to do so by law:
    Each party will preserve the confidentiality of all Confidential Information of the other obtained in connection with these Terms. Neither party will, without the prior written consent of the other, disclose or make any Confidential Information available to any person, or use the same for its own benefit, other than as contemplated by these Terms.
    Each party’s obligations under this clause will survive termination of these Terms.
    The provisions of clauses 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 shall not apply to any information which:

    1. is or becomes public knowledge other than by a breach of this clause
    2. is received from a third party who lawfully acquired it and who is under no obligation restricting its disclosure
    3. is in the possession of the receiving party without restriction in relation to disclosure before the date of receipt from the disclosing party or
    4. is independently developed without access to the Confidential Information.
  2. Privacy:
    Blackcurrant maintains a privacy policy that sets out the parties’ obligations in respect of personal information. You should read that policy at www.blackcurrantfinance.com/privacy-policy and You will be taken to have accepted that policy when You accept these Terms.

 

5. Intellectual Property

  • General:
    Title to, and all Intellectual Property Rights in the Services, the Website and any documentation relating to the Services remain the property of Blackcurrant (or its licensors)
  • Ownership of Data:
    Title to, and all Intellectual Property Rights in, the Data remain Your property. However, Your access to the Data is contingent on full payment of the Blackcurrant Access Fee when due. You grant Blackcurrant a license to use, copy, transmit, store, and back-up Your information and Data for the purposes of enabling You to access and use the Services and for any other purpose related to provision of services to You.
  • Backup of Data:
    You must maintain copies of all Data inputted into the Service. Blackcurrant adheres to its best practice policies and procedures to prevent data loss, including a daily system data back-up regime, but does not make any guarantees that there will be no loss of Data. Blackcurrant expressly excludes liability for any loss of Data no matter how caused
  • Third-party applications and your Data.
    If you enable third-party applications for use in conjunction with the Services, You acknowledge that Blackcurrant may allow the providers of those third-party applications to access Your Data as required for the interoperation of such third-party applications with the Services. Blackcurrant shall not be responsible for any disclosure, modification or deletion of Your Data resulting from any such access by third-party application providers.

 

6. Warranties and Acknowledgements

  1. Authority:
    You warrant that where You have registered to use the Service on behalf of another person, You have the authority to agree to these Terms on behalf of that person and agree that by registering to use the Service You bind the person on whose behalf You act to the performance of any and all obligations that You become subject to by virtue of these Terms, without limiting Your own personal obligations under these Terms
    Acknowledgement:
    You acknowledge that:

    1. You are authorized to use the Services and the Website and to access the information and Data that You input into the Website, including any information or Data input into the Website by any person you have authorized to use the Service. You are also authorized to access the processed information and Data that is made available to You through Your use of the Website and the Services (whether that information and Data is Your own or that of anyone else).
    2. Blackcurrant has no responsibility to any person other than You and nothing in this Agreement confers, or purports to confer, a benefit on any person other than You. If You use the Services or access the Website on behalf of or for the benefit of anyone other than yourself (whether a body corporate or otherwise) you agree that:
      • You are responsible for ensuring that You have the right to do so
      • You are responsible for authorizing any person who is given access to information or Data, and you agree that Blackcurrant has no obligation to provide any person access to such information or Data without Your authorization and may refer any requests for information to You to address and
      • You will indemnify Blackcurrant against any claims or loss relating to:
        1. Blackcurrant’s refusal to provide any person access to Your information or Data in accordance with these Terms,
        2. Blackcurrant’s making available information or Data to any person with Your authorization.
        3. The provision of, access to, and use of, the Services is on an “as is ” basis and at Your own risk.
        4. Blackcurrant does not warrant that the use of the Service will be uninterrupted or error free. Among other things, the operation and availability of the systems used for accessing the Service, including public telephone services, computer networks and the Internet, can be unpredictable and may from time to time interfere with or prevent access to the Services. Blackcurrant is not in any way responsible for any such interference or prevention of Your access or use of the Services.
        5. Blackcurrant is not Your accountant and use of the Services does not constitute the receipt of accounting advice. If You have any accounting questions, please contact an accountant.
        6. It is Your sole responsibility to determine that the Services meet the needs of Your business and are suitable for the purposes for which they are used.
        7. You remain solely responsible for complying with all applicable accounting, tax and other laws. It is Your responsibility to check that storage of and access to your Data via the Software and the Website will comply with laws applicable to you (including any laws requiring you to retain records).
  2. No warranties:
    Blackcurrant gives no warranty about the Services. Without limiting the foregoing, Blackcurrant does not warrant that the Services will meet Your requirements or that it will be suitable for any particular purpose. To avoid doubt, all implied conditions or warranties are excluded in so far as is permitted by law, including (without limitation) warranties of merchantability, fitness for purpose, title and non-infringement.
  3. Consumer guarantees:
    You warrant and represent that You are acquiring the right to access and use the Services for the purposes of a business and that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any statutory consumer guarantees or legislation intended to protect non-business consumers in any jurisdiction does not apply to the supply of the Services, the Website or these Terms.

 

7. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Blackcurrant excludes all liability and responsibility to You (or any other person) in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, for any loss (including loss of information, Data, profits and savings) or damage resulting, directly or indirectly, from any use of, or reliance on, the Service or Website.If You suffer loss or damage as a result of Blackcurrant’s negligence or failure to comply with these Terms, any claim by You against Blackcurrant arising from Blackcurrant’s negligence or failure will be limited in respect of any one incident, or series of connected incidents, to the Access Fees paid by You in the previous 12 months.
If You are not satisfied with the Service, your sole and exclusive remedy is to terminate these Terms in accordance with Clause 8.

 

8. Termination

  1. Trial policy
    When You first sign up for access to the Services You can evaluate the Services under the defined trial usage conditions, with no obligation to continue to use the Services. If You choose to continue using the Services thereafter, you will be billed when You first add Your billing details into the Services, as set out in more detail in the Fee Schedule. If You choose not to continue using the Services, you may delete Your organization in the ‘My Blackcurrant’ section of the Services.
  2. Prepaid Subscriptions
    Blackcurrant will not provide any refund for any remaining prepaid period for a prepaid Access Fee subscription.
  3. No-fault termination:
    These Terms will continue for the period covered by the Access Fee paid or payable under clause 3.1. At the end of each billing period these Terms will automatically continue for another period of the same duration as that period, provided You continue to pay the prescribed Access Fee in accordance with the Fee Schedule, unless either party terminates these Terms by giving at least one month’s advance written notice. If You elect to terminate these Terms by providing one month’s’ advance written notice, You shall be liable to pay all relevant Access Fees up to and including the day of termination of these Terms.
  4. Breach:
    1. If You:
      • breach any of these Terms and do not remedy the breach within 14 days after receiving notice of the breach if the breach is capable of being remedied
      • breach any of these Terms and the breach is not capable of being remedied (which includes (without limitation) any breach of clause 3.4 or any payment of Access Fees that are not paid in full in accordance with the requirements set out in the Fee Schedule) or
      • You or Your business become insolvent or Your business goes into liquidation or has a receiver or manager appointed of any of its assets or if You become insolvent, or make any arrangement with Your creditors, or become subject to any similar insolvency event in any jurisdiction,Blackcurrant may take any or all of the following actions, at its sole discretion:
    2. Terminate this Agreement and Your use of the Services and the Website
    3. Suspend for any definite or indefinite period of time, Your use of the Services and the Website
    4. Suspend or terminate access to all or any Data.
    5. Take either of the actions in sub-clauses (d), (e) and (f) of this clause 8(4) in respect of any or all other persons whom You have authorized to have access to Your information or Data.
      For the avoidance of doubt, if payment of any invoice for Access Fees due in relation to any of Your Billing Contacts, Billing Plans or any of Your Organizations (as defined at clause 3) is not made in accordance with the requirements set out in the Fee Schedule, Blackcurrant may: suspend or terminate Your use of the Service, the authority for all or any of Your Organizations to use the Service, or Your rights of access to all or any Data
  5. Accrued Rights:
    Termination of these Terms is without prejudice to any rights and obligations of the parties accrued up to and including the date of termination. On termination of this Agreement You will:

    1. remain liable for any accrued charges and amounts which become due for payment before or after termination and
    2. immediately cease to use the Services and the Website.
  6. Expiry or termination:
    Clauses 3.1, 3.7, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 survive the expiry or termination of these Terms

 

9. Help Desk

  1. Technical Problems:
    In the case of technical problems, You must make all reasonable efforts to investigate and diagnose problems before contacting Blackcurrant. If You still need technical help, please check the support provided online by Blackcurrant on the Website or failing that email us at support@Blackcurrantfinance.com
  2. Service availability:
    Whilst Blackcurrant intends that the Services should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is possible that on occasions the Services or Website may be unavailable to permit maintenance or other development activity to take place.
    If for any reason Blackcurrant has to interrupt the Services for longer periods than Blackcurrant would normally expect, Blackcurrant will use reasonable endeavors to publish in advance details of such activity on the Website.

 

10. General

  1. Entire agreement:
    These Terms, together with the Blackcurrant Privacy Policy and the terms of any other notices or instructions given to You under these Terms of Use, supersede and extinguish all prior agreements, representations (whether oral or written), and understandings and constitute the entire agreement between You and Blackcurrant relating to the Services and the other matters dealt with in these Terms.
  2. Waiver:
    If either party waives any breach of these Terms, this will not constitute a waiver of any other breach. No waiver will be effective unless made in writing.
  3. Delays:
    Neither party will be liable for any delay or failure in performance of its obligations under these Terms if the delay or failure is due to any cause outside its reasonable control. This clause does not apply to any obligation to pay money.
  4. No Assignment:
    You may not assign or transfer any rights to any other person without Blackcurrant’s prior written consent.
  5. Governing law and jurisdiction:
    Contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England, and all communication between us and you during our contractual relationship shall be conducted in English.
  6. Severability:
    If any part or provision of these Terms is invalid, unenforceable or in conflict with the law, that part or provision is replaced with a provision which, as far as possible, accomplishes the original purpose of that part or provision. The remainder of this Agreement will be binding on the parties.
  7. Notices:
    Any notice given under these Terms by either party to the other must be in writing by email and will be deemed to have been given on transmission. Notices to Blackcurrant must be sent to support@Blackcurrant.com or to any other email address notified by email to You by Blackcurrant. Notices to You will be sent to the email address which You provided when setting up Your access to the Service.
  8. Rights of Third Parties:
    A person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to benefit under or to enforce any term of these Terms.
  9. Consumers:
    Blackcurrant is not intended for consumer use. It is designed for corporate or business use.

 

11. Additional terms for Account Information Services in the United Kingdom

If You are a Blackcurrant Subscriber or Invited User based in the United Kingdom that uses our account information services (AIS) or payment information services (PIS), you consent to our terms and conditions for AIS and PIS services. This means that you agree to receive you transaction information into your Blackcurrant account and also to make payments or receiving funds using PIS, then these additional terms apply to you.
The account information services will make up part of the Services and any references to Data throughout the Agreement will be deemed to include references to ‘consolidated information’ and ‘transaction information’. If you’re wondering what some of the words used in these additional terms mean (like ‘transaction information’ and ‘payment account’) check out the key definitions below.
Account information services

What are they?
As an account information service provider, Blackcurrant can, with Your express permission, receive or access Your transaction information from Your payment account with a payment service provider in order to flow those transactions into Your Blackcurrant account for simple and effective reconciliation. Once reconciled, the transaction information becomes consolidated information in Your Blackcurrant account.

How do I use them?
If You wish to set up a bank data and take advantage of the account information services, You will need to explicitly agree to us receiving or accessing Your transaction information and, if applicable, accessing Your payment account using the authorization/authentication method prescribed by Your payment service provider. In some situations, You may be required to periodically re-authorize us to access Your payment account on Your behalf.

How does Blackcurrant use your transaction information?
Once we have retrieved your transaction information, we will import it into Your Blackcurrant account and only use it to provide the Services to You in the normal way. The same applies to any consolidated information we create out of that transaction information. We’ll process personal data in accordance with our privacy policy, available at www.blackcurrantfinance.com/privacy-policy

What charges apply?
We charge for provision of the Services generally, but do not charge a premium for use of any account information services. In some cases, Your payment service provider may charge their own fee for providing transaction information. Where that’s the case, the fee will either be invoiced by the payment service provider directly to You, or we will collect the fee from You and pass that through to the payment service provider. Check out your subscription plan to see if Your payment service provider charges a fee for provision of transaction information.

How do I stop using them?
You can stop using account information services at any time by following the withdrawal method prescribed by Your payment service provider. You may still use the Services without the account information services.

 

Payment information services

What are they?
As payment information service provider, Blackcurrant can, with Your express permission, authorize payments made from clients to your bank account or your payment service provider. PIS can also allow or authorize payments from your own bank for payments you have agreed to be made. Your payment account with a payment service provider in order to flow as an authorization as your agent for provision of these services.

How do I use them?
If You wish to set up a PIS, you will need to consent to activating PIS services, You will need to explicitly agree to us authorizing transactions on your behalf to your bank or payment provider. Your transaction information and, if applicable, accessing Your payment account using the authorization/authentication method prescribed by Your payment service provider. In all situations, You will be required to periodically re-authorize us to access each payment service.

What charges apply?
We charge for provision of the Services generally, but do not charge a premium for use of any payment information services. In some cases, Your payment service provider may charge their own fee for providing transaction information. Where that’s the case, the fee will either be invoiced by the payment service provider directly to You, or we will collect the fee from You and pass that through to the payment service provider. Check out your subscription plan to see if Your payment service provider charges a fee for provision of transaction information.

How do I stop using them?
You can stop using account information services at any time by following the withdrawal method prescribed by Your payment service provider. You may still use the Services without the account information services.

Accuracy
Any transaction information imported into Your Blackcurrant account will be a reflection of the transaction information held with Your payment service provider (e.g., the information held in your online banking transactions). We aren’t responsible for any inaccuracy or incompleteness of this information.

Liability
For the purposes of these additional terms relating to the account information services, our maximum aggregate liability to You arising out of or in connection with the unauthorized disclosure of Your sensitive payment data, where sensitive payment data is used to commit fraud, shall be limited to two times the fees paid by You to us in the preceding 12 months. Otherwise, the liability limitations in the Agreement will apply to the account information services in the normal way as part of the Services.

 

Communications under the PSRs

As a technology company, we prefer to communicate with you online. If we are required to communicate with You under the PSRs, we will:

  1. Communicate general messages with a notification on the Website and
  2. Communicate messages specific to You, including in the event of actual or suspected fraud, to the email address provided by You during the registration process.

These additional terms applying to account information services are concluded in English and all information and notifications under these additional terms will also be in English.

 

Definitions

“Consolidated information” means a form of information created using Your transaction information, as part of the account information service.
“Payment account” means an account that is used for the execution of payment transactions, such as a current account.
“Payment service provider” means an entity which provides payment services as set out in the PSRs (e.g., a bank).
“Sensitive payment data” means Your information that could be reasonably used to carry out fraud, including Your personalized security credentials (but excluding, in relation to Your payment account(s), the name of the account holder and the account number).
“Transaction information” means the information We access from Your payment account(s) concerning Your payment transactions.