Privacy Policy

We understand how important it is to protect your personal information. This document sets out our privacy commitment in respect of personal information we hold about you and what we do with that information. It is important to us that you are confident any personal information we hold about you will be treated in a way that protects it.

Our commitment is to abide by the information privacy principles in the Privacy Act 2020 (or any successor legislation) (the Privacy Act) and all other applicable laws. This Privacy Policy applies in addition to, and does not limit, our rights and obligations under the Privacy Act and other applicable laws.

In this Privacy Policy, we, us and our means NZ.Finance (including the nz.finance website and related digital services), acting through our team and, where relevant, through Financial Advisers and broker partners who use our platform.

When we arrange finance or insurance through lenders, insurers and other product providers (Product Providers), those organisations will also have their own privacy policies that apply to information collected on their behalf or shared with them.

By providing us with personal information, engaging us to provide you with services, creating an account, or by using our website or platform, you consent to the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time by publishing a revised version on this page, to reflect changes in the law, our products, or our business needs — provided the changes do not unfairly disadvantage you. Where changes are material, we will take reasonable steps to bring them to your attention (for example by a notice on our website or by email where we hold a current address for you).

By continuing to engage us or use our website after an update, you will be deemed to have accepted the updated Privacy Policy. The “last updated” date at the bottom of this page shows when this version took effect.

When we refer to personal information we mean information that identifies, or is capable of identifying, you. This can include, for example:

• your name, date of birth, address, contact details, occupation and identification documents;
• account, login and communication preferences for our website or platform;
• information about your financial situation, goals, employment, assets, liabilities and credit history, where needed to recommend or facilitate mortgage, loan and insurance products we are permitted to advise on or arrange (Products);
• credit information and, where relevant and lawful, health information collected on behalf of Product Providers for applications you choose to make; and
• technical and usage information described in section 11 (such as IP address and device details).

We collect your personal information for purposes connected with our relationship with you, including:

• responding to your requests, enquiries and support needs;
• providing services to you (for example to recommend Products, run applications, or operate broker workflows);
• verifying your identity and meeting our legal and regulatory obligations;
• sending communications and, where permitted, direct marketing about products and services we think may interest you (including by mail, telephone, email or SMS/MMS) — you can opt out of marketing at any time;
• improving our website, platform and service offering through analytics and research; and
• any other purpose authorised by you or the Privacy Act.

We may also collect personal information (including credit information and health information) on behalf of the lenders, insurers and other Product Providers you choose to apply with. Those Product Providers’ privacy policies apply to information collected for them.

Generally we collect your personal information directly from you — for example when you use our website or platform, complete forms, upload documents, or speak with us.

We may also collect personal information from:

• related companies, broker partners and referral networks we work with;
• credit reporting and identity verification agencies;
• with your authorisation, banks (including through bank-statement retrieval tools) and employers;
• Product Providers (for example during the term of a loan or insurance we have arranged, so we can answer queries or assist as your circumstances change — including periodic loan balance or premium information connected with ongoing commission where applicable); and
• any other person authorised by you or the Privacy Act.

If you provide personal information about anyone else to us, you confirm that you collected it in accordance with the Privacy Act and that the individual has authorised disclosure to us and our collection, use and disclosure of their information under this Privacy Policy, and has been told about their right to access and request correction of their personal information.

We generally rely on you to help keep the information we hold accurate and up to date. If any of your details change, please let us know as soon as possible using the contact details in section 16.

We may disclose your personal information to the following people where we consider it necessary for the purposes described in section 6:

• related companies, broker partners and service networks we work with;
• Product Providers and other prospective lenders, insurers, intermediaries or mortgage insurers in relation to your finance or insurance requirements (including any guarantor, trustee, assignee or potential assignee);
• referral partners who can help you with related services;
• contractors and service providers who support our operations (for example hosting, communications, identity checks and analytics);
• investors, or any entity with an interest in our business, or to whom we consider assigning or transferring rights or obligations or selling all or part of our business;
• anyone we are legally required or authorised to share information with, including regulators and government agencies;
• auditors and compliance reviewers, to help ensure services are provided in your best interests and in accordance with applicable rules;
• your employer and referees, as well as credit reporting and identity verification agencies; and
• any other person or entity authorised by you or the Privacy Act.

You acknowledge that credit reporting agencies may hold your credit information (including default information) on their systems and use it to provide credit reporting services to their customers.

Before disclosing personal information to another organisation, we take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that they have a commitment to protecting your personal information that is at least comparable to ours.

We may use cloud storage and IT services to hold personal information about you. Those servers and providers may be located outside New Zealand. We may also disclose personal information to related companies and third-party suppliers overseas for some of the purposes listed above.

Where we do so, we take steps that are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the information is protected in a manner consistent with New Zealand privacy requirements, including through contractual arrangements where appropriate.

Cookies and IP addresses

We may place cookies (small data files containing a unique ID) on your device when you visit our website. Cookies help us recognise your browser, measure traffic and transaction patterns, understand which areas are used, analyse trends, administer the site, and improve our services.

Cookie and analytics data may include your IP address, device and browser type, operating system, pages or features visited and time spent, how often you use the site, search terms, links clicked, and similar usage statistics. If you later submit personal details (such as your name and email), we may associate those details with previously collected cookie information.

You can configure your browser to refuse cookies. Some site features may not work as well if cookies are disabled.

Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information we hold — including access controls, encryption in transit where appropriate, and staff awareness. However, because the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot guarantee the security of every transmission. Information you send to us online is transmitted at your own risk. Please keep your login credentials confidential.

Links and third-party content

Our website may contain links to third-party sites and may display advertisements hosted by others. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those third parties. Their own privacy policies apply.

Advertising or analytics partners may use cookies, pixels or similar technologies to collect non-identifying information about your browsing in order to measure performance or, where permitted, show more relevant ads.

You are not required to provide personal information to us, but if you choose not to it may limit our ability to help you and your ability to obtain finance, insurance or other Products from Product Providers. In most cases we need to identify you to do business with you successfully.

Where it is lawful and practicable, we will offer ways to interact with us without providing personal information — for example general enquiries about rates or promotions. You may browse parts of our website anonymously, but we will not be able to contact you unless you share your details.

You may request access to, and correction of, personal information we hold about you at any time by contacting us (see section 16). We will respond within a reasonable timeframe under the Privacy Act. We may charge a fee covering our reasonable costs of retrieving and supplying information, and we will tell you if a fee applies before we proceed.

In limited situations we may refuse a request where the Privacy Act allows — for example where releasing information would unreasonably affect someone else’s privacy. If we refuse, we will explain why and how you can complain.

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes set out in this policy, or as required by law (for example record-keeping obligations for financial advice and lending arrangements). When information is no longer required, we take reasonable steps to securely destroy or de-identify it.

Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have rights that include, in summary:

• knowing what personal information we hold about you and how we use it;
• requesting access to and correction of that information;
• asking us to stop using your information for direct marketing; and
• complaining if you believe your privacy has been interfered with.

If you have a privacy concern, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz.

NZ.Finance does not knowingly collect personal information from children for marketing purposes. If you believe we hold information about a child without appropriate authorisation, please contact us and we will take reasonable steps to delete it.