Updated 27 February 2026.
This is the Privacy Policy of:
- Finance Now Limited (Finance Now), of 51 Don Street, Invercargill, 9810; and
- SBS Money Limited (SBS Money), 51 Don Street, Invercargill, 9810,
together referred as “we, our or us“.
Southland Building Society (trading as SBS Bank) (SBS) is the parent of Finance Now and SBS Money. Southsure Assurance Limited (trading as SBS Insurance) and SBS Wealth Limited are also subsidiaries of SBS. Together, SBS and its subsidiaries, including Finance Now and its subsidiary, SBS Money Limited, are the Group.
This Privacy Policy describes the type of information that we will collect about you, how we will handle your information, who we can share your information with and your rights to the personal information we hold.
We know how important it is to keep your information safe and secure. We will take all reasonable steps to securely store any personal information we collect. However, you should be aware that information transmitted over the internet is not always secure.
When you contact us (by phone, email or in person), access our website, use other electronic services we provide, our ID verification application or electronic document collection, or request and/or use our products and services, the collection, use, disclosure, storage and processing of your personal information and data will be in accordance with this Policy.
What personal information will we collect?
Information we collect directly
We may collect, store, use, disclose and retain the following types of personal information, which we collect directly from you:
- where you apply for a loan or a credit card directly from us, your name, address, date of birth and contact information and other personal information about you on your application form;
- where you apply for a loan or a credit card directly from us, information about your personal finances and credit requirements, including your income situation and your residency status;
- where you apply for a loan or a credit card directly from us, information about your bank accounts and account activity and pay slips;
- all direct interactions and correspondence with us (including telephone conversations and file notes that we may make about our communications);
- information about your property or goods (where relevant); such as vehicle pate numbers, or your property details and valuation;
- a copy of any other document you provide to us (for example, your New Zealand Driver Licence, New Zealand or overseas Passport) and any personal (including biometric) information contained in those documents or which you submit to us electronically. For more information about how we handle your biometric information, please see our separate Biometric Processing Privacy Notice here.
- details of your computer or network when you visit our website or use our digital services, including activity within any electronic service used or provided by any member of the Group, including e-mail, social media, electronic document collection and any mobile or other electronic application (an Electronic Service) and details of any mobile device you use to access an electronic service (including, for example, your IP address, security information, geolocation etc); and information about your interactions with us, including through any electronic service.
Information we collect indirectly
Sometimes we need to collect personal information about you from a third party. We only do this where we are permitted to do so by applicable law. The kinds of information we may collect, where we get it from and why we need it are summarised below.
We may collect, store, use, disclose and retain the following types of information about you, which we collect from third parties:
| Who provides us with the information | Information collected | Why we need this |
|---|---|---|
| Intermediaries that you engage when applying for a loan or credit card with us, such as a broker or a retailer. |
| To complete our lending assessment, and to administer your account and any loans you apply for. |
| SBS Bank | Identity documents (such as copies of your driver licence or passport) and results from your biometric ID verification (if you are a customer of SBS Bank). | To complete our lending assessment and verify your identity. |
| Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) | Immigration status | To verify your visa or residency status against official records. |
| Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) | Information on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). | To check and/or register our security interest on the PPSR, where required. |
| Property data aggregators and analysts | Information about your property, such as ownership history, valuation, and other interests on the property. | To help us verify property ownership, and to find out more information about the property. |
| Waka Kotahi / New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) | Information about your motor vehicle. | To help us verify you as the owner of the vehicle. From time to time we may need to obtain information regarding names and addresses of registered owners, vehicle information and history from NZ Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi), to be used for the purpose of verifying ownership details of a vehicle. You have the right to notify Waka Kotahi if you do not wish to have your names and address made available under an authorisation. We hold an Authorisation from Waka Kotahi under section 241(1) of the Land Transport Act 1998 as a member of the Financial Services Federation. |
| Identity verification providers | An identity verification report, which may include your photo and copies of your ID (like your driver licence or passport). | To verify your identity and comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML Act). For more information about how we handle your biometric information, please see our separate biometric processing privacy notice here. |
Credit reporting bureaus, such as:
| Your credit information, such as your credit history and credit score. | To assess your creditworthiness. |
| Credit management agencies, debt collectors and repossession agents | Debt collection reports and information about outcomes of any repossession sale. | To assist us with our collection processes in the event the loan account or credit card goes into arrears, to repossess goods and to sell repossessed goods (only where relevant to you). |
Intermediaries that you engage when applying for a loan or credit card with us, such as a broker or a retailer.
Information collected:
- All information on a lending application form
- Any additional information that you share with your intermediary regarding your application or our products or services
- File notes, correspondence and other comments from the intermediary about you and your application.
Why we need this:
To complete our lending assessment, and to administer your account and any loans you apply for.
SBS Bank
Information collected:
Identity documents (such as copies of your driver licence or passport) and results from your biometric ID verification (if you are a customer of SBS Bank).
Why we need this:
To complete our lending assessment and verify your identity.
Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)
Information collected:
Immigration status
Why we need this:
To verify your visa or residency status against official records.
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
Information collected:
Information on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR).
Why we need this:
To check and/or register our security interest on the PPSR, where required.
Property data aggregators and analyst
Information collected:
Information about your property, such as ownership history, valuation, and other interests on the property.
Why we need this:
To help us verify property ownership, and to find out more information about the property.
Waka Kotahi / New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA)
Information collected:
Information about your motor vehicle.
Why we need this:
To help us verify you as the owner of the vehicle. From time to time we may need to obtain information regarding names and addresses of registered owners, vehicle information and history from NZ Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi), to be used for the purpose of verifying ownership details of a vehicle. You have the right to notify Waka Kotahi if you do not wish to have your names and address made available under an authorisation. We hold an Authorisation from Waka Kotahi under section 241(1) of the Land Transport Act 1998 as a member of the Financial Services Federation.
Identity verification providers
Information collected:
An identity verification report, which may include your photo and copies of your ID (like your driver licence or passport).
Why we need this:
To verify your identity and comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML Act).
For more information about how we handle your biometric information, please see our separate biometric processing privacy notice here.
Credit Reporting Bureaus, such as Centrix, Equifax New Zealand, Experian New Zealand
Information collected:
Your credit information, such as your credit history and credit score.
Why we need this:
To assess your creditworthiness.
Credit Management Agencies, Debt Collectors and Repossession Agents
Information collected:
Debt collection reports and information about outcomes of any repossession sale.
Why we need this:
To assist us with our collection processes in the event the loan account or credit card goes into arrears, to repossess goods and to sell repossessed goods (only where relevant to you).
We may also collect your personal information from common internet technologies (like cookies). For more information on cookies, please see our website terms here.
From time to time, we may ask you to provide information about another person, like a referee or your next of kin. If you provide us with personal information about any other person, you must, before you disclose information about them to us, check that you have that person’ consent to do so and have made them aware of this Privacy Policy.
For what purpose do we collect, retain, use and disclose your personal information?
We collect, retain, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes explained above and also to:
- assess and provide a response to any quotation you request or other enquiry you make;
- assess/process any application you submit to a member of the Group including assessing your current and on-going creditworthiness;
- open and manage/administer an account or issue any product to you following a successful application;
- facilitate your entry into any relevant insurance;
- maintain the integrity and effectiveness of the Group’s credit records and those of credit reporting agencies, including information about your credit history and allow credit reporting agencies to provide that information to their customers as part of their credit reporting services; and as part of facilitating responsible lending practices;
- enforce any defaults under your account(s), including repossessing and selling assets (where applicable) and engaging third parties to help us with the collection processes;
- prevent and detect fraud including by monitoring your accounts;
- verify (or reverify) your identity and address (“ID Verification“) as required, including electronically;
- operate, improve and optimise our website(s) or any electronic service for our customers, including sending you service, support and administrative messages, reminders, updates and security alerts and managing compatibility issues or required upgrades (as applicable);
- communicate with you about your application, account or any lending or product which is issued by the Group, and any promotion, products or services being offered by the Group, and address any disputes that arise between us;
- assist a retailer connected with any product which you have entered into and which is offered by any member of the Group, but only to the extent necessary to manage your application, account or product;
- provide other related products or services (including Electronic Services) to you;
- conduct market research and statistical analysis;
- enable an assignment or transfer of the loan or facilitate any sale or other disposition of all or part of our loan book or other business; and
- ensure we can comply with our legal obligations including under New Zealand credit and privacy legislation and regulation, under industry codes of conduct and under our contracts.
Who will we share your personal information with?
From time to time, we may share some of your personal information with the following third parties for the following purposes:
| Who we disclose information to | Why we disclose information | |
|---|---|---|
| Intermediaries | To process your application and advise the outcome | |
| Joint account holders | To provide you and your co-applicant with our services | |
| Credit reporting agencies (including Centrix, Equifax New Zealand, and Experian New Zealand) |
| |
| Your past and current credit providers, including your bank | To assist us when investigating a serious case of potential fraud or other suspicious activity in accordance with our obligations under the AML Act. | |
| Government agencies or law enforcement agencies | Where required or permitted by law. | |
| Other members of the Group, any dealers, vendor or broker relevant to your application or account and any retailer connected with a product differed by any member of the Group | To enable you to obtain services from other members of the Group (for example, if you request repayment insurance from SBS Insurance). | |
| Our third party service providers | To help us with marketing, data processing, fraud detection and statistical analysis. | |
| Debt collection agencies and repossession agents | To assist us with our collection processes in the event the loan account goes into arrears, to repossess goods and to sell repossessed goods. | |
| The Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, the Privacy Commissioner, or other dispute resolution scheme | To assist in resolving a dispute between you and us. | |
| Our professional service providers | To enable the provision of services to us, on the basis that those service providers do not process your personal information for their own purposes. | |
| Any assignee (or potential assignee) of the rights of any member of the Group in relation to your account or product. | In connection with the assignment of your loan or the sale of our business. | |
| Your next of kin | So we can get in touch if we have difficulty contacting you. |
Intermediaries
Why we disclose information:
To process your application and advise the outcome
Joint Account Holders
Why we disclose information:
To provide you and your co-applicant with our services.
Credit reporting agencies (including Centrix, Equifax New Zealand, and Experian New Zealand)
Why we disclose information:
To facilitate responsible lending practices to enable those third parties to create and maintain credit reports and records about you, and as part of our credit reporting obligations.
For further information, please see the Credit Reporting Bureau websites:
- https://www.centrix.co.nz/
- https://www.equifax.co.nz/
- https://www.experian.co.nz/
Your past and current credit providers, including your bank
Why we disclose information
To assist us when investigating a serious case of potential fraud or other suspicious activity in accordance with our obligations under the AML Act.
Government agencies or law enforcement agencies
Why we disclose information
Where required or permitted by law.
Other members of the Group, any dealers, vendor or broker relevant to your application or account and any retailer connected with a product differed by any member of the Group
Why we disclose information
To enable you to obtain services from other members of the Group (for example, if you request repayment insurance from SBS Insurance).
Our third party service providers
Why we disclose information
To help us with marketing, data processing, fraud detection and statistical analysis.
Debt collection agencies and repossession agents
Why we disclose information
To assist us with our collection processes in the event the loan account goes into arrears, to repossess goods and to sell repossessed goods.
The Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman, the Privacy Commissioner, or other dispute resolution scheme
Why we disclose information
To assist in resolving a dispute between you and us.
Our professional service providers
Why we disclose information
To enable the provision of services to us, on the basis that those service providers do not process your personal information for their own purposes.
Any assignee (or potential assignee) of the rights of any member of the Group in relation to your account or product.
Why we disclose information
In connection with the assignment of your loan or the sale of our business.
Your next of kin
Why we disclose information
So we can get in touch if we have difficulty contacting you.
How long do we keep your personal information for?
We keep your personal information for as long as necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was collected or as required by law. If we no longer need your personal information, we’ll destroy the information or remove any identifying information so it can no longer be linked to you.
What are your rights?
It is your decision whether you wish to provide your personal information to us. However, if you do not provide certain personal information to us, this may mean we cannot process your application. We will give you more information about the consequences of not providing certain information to us at the time, however, please note that we are required by law to collect information about you pursuant to the AML Act, and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003. We may also need to collect certain information to register our security interest (if applicable) as required by the Personal Property Securities Act 1999.
You can unsubscribe from any marketing communications from us via the unsubscribe link in any promotional emails sent to you.
You are entitled (on request) to receive confirmation of whether the Group is holding any of your personal information. Where any of your personal information can be readily retrieved, you may request access to it, and you have the right to request correction and the right to be notified of action taken in response to any such request, subject to payment of any reasonable charges (if permitted under the Privacy Act 2020). If you wish to access your personal information or if any of the personal information we have is incorrect, or you think we have breached our obligations under the Privacy Act, please call our Contact Centre on 0800 40 50 70.
If you are unhappy with our response to any privacy concern or complaint raised, you may wish to contact either the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz or the Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme at www.ifso.nz.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may vary this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will attempt to notify you of any variation either by post or email to your last known address, telephone call, or notice on our website.
