Effective and last updated: August 30, 2026
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern access to and use of TheFinanceSection.com and its related pages, content, features, emails, and services (collectively, the “Site”). The Site is operated under the trade name “TheFinanceSection,” also styled “TheFinance$ection” (“TheFinanceSection,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). Contact information for the Site operator appears in Section 22.
These Terms include a binding individual-arbitration agreement and class-action and jury-trial waivers in Section 19. Please read that section carefully.
By clicking a button or checking a box that states you agree to these Terms, or by using an account or feature after being presented with that notice, you enter into a binding agreement with the Site operator. If you do not agree, do not create an account, subscribe, submit content, or use an interactive Site feature. You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to form a binding contract. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information.
We may update these Terms as the Site or law changes. We will post revised Terms and update the effective date. For material changes, we will provide additional notice through the Site, account, or email when reasonably practicable. Changes apply prospectively when stated. If applicable law requires renewed assent, we will request it before the changed terms apply to you. Continued use after legally sufficient notice constitutes acceptance where permitted.
TFS Financial Health Grades, scores, rankings, category labels such as “safest” or “shakiest,” summaries, and commentary (collectively, the “Grades”) are our opinions and editorial assessments. They reflect our interpretation of specified public data under an evolving methodology. They are comparative labels within the TFS methodology—not factual guarantees of solvency, safety, service quality, or future results. Reasonable analysts may interpret the same information differently.
The Grades are not:
The Site is for general informational and educational purposes. Nothing on the Site creates an adviser-client, fiduciary, professional, or similar relationship. Consider your complete circumstances, consult an appropriately licensed professional, and verify material information directly with the institution and relevant regulator before acting.
Financial, regulatory, branch, complaint, and failure data is obtained from third-party sources including the FDIC, NCUA, and CFPB. Source data and our processing may be delayed, incomplete, outdated, mapped imperfectly, revised, or erroneous. We do not independently audit each source record. To report a specific data or attribution issue, email [email protected]with the page URL, disputed statement, and supporting official source.
Certain features require Google sign-in. You are responsible for activity under your account and for maintaining the security of your Google account and devices. Do not sell, transfer, or misuse access. Notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorized activity. We may refuse, suspend, restrict, or terminate access when reasonably necessary to protect the Site, enforce these Terms, address legal risk, or investigate abuse.
By subscribing, you request the described emails until you unsubscribe. Delivery, timing, and availability are not guaranteed. Grade and institution alerts are informational and may be delayed or omitted. Use the unsubscribe link in an email to stop marketing or alert messages; we may still send non-marketing account, legal, or security notices where appropriate.
Private records saved in your CD organizer are not public User Content and are not covered by the publication or promotional license below. We store and process those records to provide your account organizer as described in our Privacy Policy.
The Site may allow reviews, ratings, and other submissions (“User Content”). You retain ownership of your User Content. You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, reproduce, format, display, distribute, and promote User Content for operating and publicizing the Site while it remains published. If we delete the content, that license ends except as reasonably necessary for backups, legal compliance, dispute records, and materials created or shared before deletion that cannot reasonably be recalled.
You represent and agree that your User Content:
We may investigate, label, restrict, decline, or remove User Content under consistently applied policies, but we do not undertake a general obligation to monitor every submission. We do not promise that a reviewer is a verified customer unless expressly labeled. We aim to treat positive and negative reviews even-handedly and do not edit a review to change its substantive message. Report suspected fake, unlawful, privacy-invasive, incentivized, or otherwise noncompliant content to [email protected] with the review URL and reason. Disagreement with an honest opinion alone is not a basis for removal.
You may not:
Site software, design, original text and graphics, compilations, and the selection and presentation of our methodology and Grades are owned by or licensed to the Site operator and protected by law. Government source data remains subject to its source terms and applicable public-domain rules. No trademark license or endorsement is granted. You may link to public pages and make reasonable personal, noncommercial use, but may not republish or commercially exploit protected Site material without permission.
Send a copyright notice to our designated copyright contact at [email protected] and the mailing address in Section 22. A notice should include: your signature; identification of the copyrighted work; identification and URL of the allegedly infringing material; your contact information; a good-faith statement that the use is unauthorized; and a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and you are authorized to act. We may remove material and terminate repeat infringers. A counter-notice should include the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(g).
The Site may link to or integrate with institutions, regulators, Google, advertisers, and other third parties we do not control. Their terms and privacy practices govern your dealings with them. Links, ads, and references do not imply endorsement. We are not responsible for third-party content, availability, transactions, products, or conduct.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SITE, GRADES, SOURCE DATA, USER CONTENT, ALERTS, AND ALL OTHER CONTENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” THE SITE OPERATOR DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, AVAILABILITY, AND QUIET ENJOYMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE CURRENT, ERROR-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR SUITABLE FOR A PARTICULAR DECISION.
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SITE OPERATOR AND ITS AFFILIATES, PERSONNEL, CONTRACTORS, AND SUPPLIERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES; LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OPPORTUNITY; OR ANY FINANCIAL, BANKING, INVESTMENT, OR OTHER DECISION OR LOSS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THE SITE, EVEN IF ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE.
OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SITE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US DURING THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY OR US $100.
These limitations do not exclude liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including where applicable liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or violation of nonwaivable statutory rights.
To the extent permitted by law, you will indemnify and defend the Site operator and its affiliates, personnel, and contractors from third-party claims, damages, judgments, and reasonable costs arising from your User Content, unlawful use, material breach of these Terms, or infringement of another person’s rights. This obligation does not apply to the extent a claim results from our own unlawful conduct.
You may stop using the Site and request account deletion as described in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or terminate access for a material or repeated breach, security threat, legal requirement, or discontinuation of a feature. Provisions that by their nature should survive—including ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnity, dispute resolution, and accrued rights—will survive.
Before starting arbitration, the claimant must send an individualized written Notice of Dispute to [email protected] and the Section 22 mailing address. It must include the claimant’s name and contact information, account email if any, facts and legal basis, and requested relief. The parties will attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute for 30 days. Any limitations period is tolled during that period. This section does not prevent either party from seeking urgent injunctive relief where legally available.
Except for an eligible individual small-claims action or a claim seeking only injunctive relief for unauthorized use or infringement of intellectual property, any dispute arising from these Terms or the Site will be resolved by final, binding, individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its then-current Consumer Arbitration Rules, as modified by these Terms. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. Information and rules are available at adr.org.
Arbitration may occur by video, telephone, documents, or in person in the county where you live or another mutually agreed location. Fees are allocated under the AAA Consumer Rules, except we will pay amounts the arbitrator determines we must pay to keep arbitration accessible. The arbitrator may award the same individualized relief a court could award and will issue a reasoned written decision.
Individual proceedings only. You and the Site operator waive trial by jury and agree to bring disputes only in an individual capacity—not as a plaintiff, claimant, or member in a class, collective, consolidated, mass, or representative action. The arbitrator may not combine claims or award relief for anyone other than the individual claimant, except with every affected party’s written consent.
30-day opt out. You may opt out of this arbitration section within 30 days after first accepting it by emailing [email protected] with your name, account email if any, and an unambiguous request to opt out. Opting out does not affect other Terms. If the individual-proceedings restriction is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court and the remaining arbitrable claims will be stayed. Otherwise, invalid language in this section will be severed to the minimum extent necessary.
The laws of South Dakota govern these Terms, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs Section 19 and mandatory consumer protections remain available where they cannot be waived. A court proceeding permitted under these Terms must be brought in a state or federal court with jurisdiction in South Dakota, except an eligible small-claims case may be brought in another proper venue.
These Terms are the entire agreement regarding their subject matter. If a provision is unenforceable, it will be limited or severed to the minimum extent necessary, subject to the specific rule in Section 19. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without consent; we may assign them in connection with a reorganization, financing, sale, or transfer of the Site. There are no third-party beneficiaries. Headings are for convenience only. Electronic notices and records satisfy writing requirements where permitted by law.
Questions, legal notices, review reports, and arbitration opt-outs may be sent to [email protected], or by mail to:
TheFinanceSection
Attn: Legal
5013 S Louise Ave #545
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
United States