Earnest Terms of Use

Using Earnest means you agree to our Terms and Conditions of Use.

This is why we hope you’ll read it so you know what you’re agreeing to. It should take around 10 minutes.

Last updated: April 26, 2023

 

Earnest is an online service by the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (or “Metrobank.”) When you see “we” “us” or “our” in this document, it means Metrobank.

When you see the word, “you,” it means you, the user or anyone who is legally authorized to represent you.

By using Earnest, you represent that you are at least eighteen (18) years old and capable of managing your own affairs.

Being owned and operated by a Philippine company, Earnest, including its Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, is governed by Philippine laws and regulations. Disputes will be under the exclusive jurisdiction of Makati City courts.

 As a user, you can use Earnest to:

  • Join and interact with its online community so you can learn and discuss about finance, investing, and other money matters.
  • Access and rate its financial education and literacy materials.
  • Give your feedback on its various features. 

These will be referred to as “products” in this document. We will inform you in case we change products being offered through Earnest.

 

Access to Earnest 

When we say “Access to Earnest,” we mean your going on Earnest and logging in.

You are responsible for the security of the credentials (i.e. your user ID and password) you use to access Earnest.

If Earnest receives a login with your credentials, it will grant access to your account as well as the products on Earnest.

Any transaction made using your account, credentials, and with valid access is considered final, valid, and binding against you, even without your actual or wet signature.

There may be times where Earnest or certain features will be unavailable because of the following reasons:

  • System maintenance
  • Transaction cut-off times
  • Electrical failure
  • Other causes outside our control 

Furthermore, we will not be liable for losses or damages in connection with your use of Earnest in the following scenarios:

  • The loss or damage is caused by a delay, disruption, or failure in your access to Earnest because of things Metrobank can’t control such as:
    • Prolonged power outages
    • Problems due to hardware or software (including viruses and bugs)
    • System-related issues (e.g. incompatibility, upgrade errors in the system)
    • Breakdown in telecommunication facilities
    • Fires, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and other calamities
    • War, terrorism, revolution, riot, civil or military disorder
    • Strike, lockout or other industrial action
    • Acts of the government and other similar acts
  • Somebody commits improper, fraudulent, or unauthorized actions or transactions because your device(s) was/were stolen.
  • Somebody uses your user ID and password, and PIN, whether you gave it to them or not.
  • The loss or damage is caused by inaccurate, incomplete, or delayed information due to disruption or system failure.
  • Other causes that prevent us from doing our obligations to you.

 

Security and Confidentiality 

We will do everything we can to ensure that Earnest is secure and cannot be accessed by unauthorized third parties. However, we can’t guarantee that Earnest will always be free from viruses or other security risks.

Likewise, we will exert reasonable efforts to make sure that your information and use of Earnest remain confidential except when we are required to disclose by law or existing regulations.   

 

Personal Data

Using Earnest will require you to give certain information and data about yourself. In respecting your data privacy rights, you can read what we use your data for and how we handle your data in our Privacy Policy.

You agree to Earnest’s Privacy Policy as well as all other policies related to Data Privacy and Information Security and all amendments to them.

 

Cookie Policy

If you allow cookies on your browser, the following personal information may be stored by us for use by third parties:

  • Browser information
  • What kind of device you’re accessing the site from
  • What language your browser uses
  • What country you’re accessing the site from
  • Browsing information
  • What pages you view
  • How long you stay on each page
  • What you click on the site
  • What sites you go to after visiting our site

Your data will only be available in aggregate with data from other site visitors. The data we gather through cookies cannot be used to identify you personally.

 
Profile Deletion

If you want to stop using Earnest, you can choose to delete your profile through the app. Once you do so, it will immediately be set to inactive and you will have 30 days from then to reactivate it.

If you don’t reactivate your profile within this period, the deletion will be carried out. This means that your profile and all its data will no longer exist on Earnest. After deletion, you can sign up again for Earnest using the same details as before.

Please note that you must fully redeem all investments made through Earnest before you can delete your profile. Any Metrobank accounts you own will not be affected when your Earnest profile is deleted.

 
Proprietary Interest

We own all rights, title and interest arising from or in connection with Earnest.

What this means is you are not allowed to do the following to Earnest:

  • Disassemble
  • Decompile
  • Copy
  • Modify
  • Reverse-engineer

Doing or allowing anyone to do any of the above is a violation of our proprietary interest. 

 

Records

You have to make sure that all information you provide to us is complete and accurate. We encourage you to check your transaction records and/or access to Earnest. Please let us know immediately if there is any error or questionable transaction or access to your Earnest account.   

 

Termination and Suspension

There are cases when we can immediately suspend your Earnest account or even ban you from Earnest without prior notice. They are:

  • If you violate this Terms and Conditions or any other agreement with Metrobank.
  • If your Earnest account have been inactive for more than 1 year.
  • If it is needed to protect you, other users, and our system from harm, be it in the form of a denial of service attack, viruses, or malicious codes.
  • If we are required to by a law, a regulatory body, a competent court of law, or own internal policies and procedures.
  • If we become aware that you have passed on, have become bankrupt, or legally incapacitated.
  • If by our sole and reasonable judgment, determine that allowing you to access Earnest is not in our best interest or would expose us to certain legal, reputational or financial risk. 

 

Amendment

We can amend (this means edit or add to) Earnest’s Terms and Conditions and/or Privacy Policy. If we do, we will inform you by posting about it on the Earnest website (www.earnest.ph) or by sending a message to the email address you provide. Please make sure that your email address and contact details with us are up-to-date.

Continuing to use Earnest even after the Terms and Conditions and/or the Privacy Policy is/are updated means you accept them.

 

Contacting Team Earnest

If you would like to report any unauthorized transactions or errors or if you would like to communicate your complaints or concerns, please email us at help@earnest.ph or send us a message via the in-app chat feature.

By contacting us, you agree to cooperate and give information for use in investigation and resolving complaints if needed.