Our commitment to protect your privacy

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 that any personal information we hold about you will be treated in a way which ensures protection of your personal information.

Our commitment in respect of personal information is to abide by the Privacy Principles set out 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.

Who are we

References in this Privacy Policy to “we”, “us” and “our” means Finance Link, acting through a Financial Adviser.

Your authorisation

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

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time, by publishing an updated version on this page, to reflect changes in the law and also our business needs so long as the changes do not disadvantage you.  By continuing to engage us or use our website you will be deemed to have accepted the updated Privacy Policy.

What personal information do we collect?

When we refer to personal information we mean information that identifies, or is capable of identifying, you.  This includes, for example, your name, date of birth, address, contact details, account details and occupation.

If you engage us to provide services to you, we may collect personal information about your financial situation or goals in order to recommend financial products that we are permitted to advise on (Products).

Why do we collect your personal information?

We collect your personal information for the purposes of our and relevant third parties’ services and relationship with you (refer to the section below: “Who do we disclose your personal information to?”).  For example:

• responding to your requests or inquiries;
• providing services to you (e.g. to enable us to recommend Products to you);
• sending communications and direct marketing to you about products and services we think may be of interest to you (whether through mail, telephone or electronic means (including email and SMS/MMS);
• market research; and
• any other purpose authorised by you or the Privacy Act.

If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you may ‘opt out’ at any time by notifying us.

We may also collect personal information (including credit information and health information) on behalf of the lenders, insurers and other providers of Products that you choose to apply for (Product Providers).  Product Providers will have their own Privacy Policy that applies to the information that we collect on their behalf.

How do we collect your personal information?

Generally we will collect your personal information directly from you. For example, we collect your personal information directly from your use of our website and the information that you submit to the website. We also collect your personal information if you use the “contact us” functionality on our website and you provide the personal information during conversations between you and us.

We may also collect your personal information from:

• NZ Financial Services Group Limited (NZFSG) and its related bodies corporate;
• credit reporting agencies;
• with your authorisation, banks (e.g. through the use of illion Bank Statements) and employers;
• Product Providers (e.g. during the term of any loan or insurance we have arranged on your behalf, in order to answer your queries or assist you with your financial arrangements as your circumstances change).  If applicable, the Product Providers may also periodically disclose your loan balance or premium to us in connection with the payment of ongoing commission to us over the term of your loan or insurance; and
• any other person authorised by you or the Privacy Act.

If you provide any personal information about anyone else to us, you confirm that you have collected that personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act and that the individual concerned has:

• authorised the disclosure to us and the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy; and
• has been informed of their right to access and request correction of their personal information.

Updating your personal information

We will generally rely on you to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate. If any of your details change, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting us.

Who do we disclose your personal information to?

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

• NZFSG and its related bodies corporate;
• Product Providers and other prospective lenders, third parties or other intermediaries in relation to your finance or insurance requirements (including a prospective lender’s mortgage insurer (if any), any person with whom a lender or insurer proposes to enter into contractual arrangements, any person who provides a guarantee or security and any trustee and any assignee or potential assignee of a lender’s or insurer’s rights);

• our referral partners who can help you with other services;
• contractors or service providers;
• investors, or any entity that has an interest in our business or any entity to whom we consider assigning or transferring any of our rights or obligations or selling all or part of our business;
• anyone who we are legally required or authorised to share your information with, including regulators and government agencies;
• to auditors (such as NZFSG) to ensure we are providing services to you that are in your best interests, and in accordance with current regulations;
• 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 and agree that credit reporting agencies may hold your credit information (including default information) on their systems and use such information to provide their credit reporting services, which may include providing your credit information (including default information) to their customers.

Prior to disclosing any of your personal information to another person or organisation, we will take all reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that the person or organisation has a commitment to protecting your personal information at least equal to our commitment.

Do we disclose your personal information to anyone outside New Zealand?

We may use cloud storage to store the personal information we hold about you. The cloud storage and the IT servers may be located outside New Zealand.

We may also disclose personal information to NZFSG and its related bodies corporate, and third party suppliers and service providers located overseas for some of the purposes listed above.

Our Website

Cookies and IP addresses

When you access our website, we may send a “cookie” (which is a small summary file containing a unique ID number) to your computer. This enables us to recognise your computer each time you visit our website. We also use cookies to measure traffic patterns, to determine which areas of our website have been visited, to measure transaction patterns, to analyse trends, administer the website, track users’ movements and gather broad demographic information. We use this to research our users’ habits so that we can improve our website and our service offering. Our cookies may record information such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address (that is, the electronic addresses of computers connected to the internet), your device and browser type, operating system, the pages or features of our site to which you have browsed and the time spent on those pages or features, the frequency with which the site is used by you, the search terms that you have used, the links on our site that a you have clicked on or used, and other usage statistics.

While our cookies do not collect personal information, if you submit your name and email address as part of your usage, then we will link that personal information with the cookies information that we have previously collected from you.

If you do not wish to receive cookies, you can set your browser so that your computer does not accept them.

Security

As our website is linked to the internet, and the internet is inherently insecure, we cannot provide any assurance regarding the security of transmission of information you communicate to us online. We also cannot guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. Accordingly, any personal information or other information which you transmit to us online is transmitted at your own risk.

Links and third party advertisements

Our website may contain links to other websites operated by third parties. Our website may also display advertisements, which are hosted by third parties.

We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third party website or advertisement providers and we are not responsible for other privacy policies or the content of any third party website or advertisements. Third party websites are responsible for informing you about their own privacy practices.

Our online advertising network partner may use cookies, web beacons or other web tracking techniques to collect non-personally identifiable information about your activities on the website and other websites that you may visit to provide you targeted advertising based upon your interests.

Are you required to provide personal information to us?

You are not required to provide any personal information to us but if you choose not to it might affect our ability to provide services to you and your ability to obtain finance, insurance and other Products from Product Providers.

In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you.  However, where it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity of doing business with us without providing us with personal information, for example, if you make general inquiries about interest rates or current promotional offers.

You may choose to interact with our website anonymously, but we will not be able to contact you unless you provide your personal information.

Access and correction to your personal information

You may access and request correction of any of the personal information that we hold about you at any time by contacting us. We may charge a fee for our reasonable costs of retrieving and supplying the information to you.

Further information

If you have any questions on our Privacy Policy or your personal information please contact us.

This Privacy Policy was last updated on December 2022.

An Overview of the Business

Finance Link is a New Zealand owned and operated business. We value all our customers and really appreciate all of your support.

Our vision is to be NZ’s preferred provider of business finance solutions and our company values are:

• We’re in your corner – We have a can-do attitude, and we are determined to get results for clients.
• We are customer obsessed – We are committed to our clients and take a long-term view of our relationships.
• We do the right thing – We do what we say we will do, and we are up front every step of the way.
• We celebrate difference – We understand that ever client is different, celebrate diversity and take a modern approach to our systems, processes and interactions.
• We are business owners – We are non-judgmental, and clients can trust us with their private situation and information.

Below is information that Finance Link is required to make publicly available in accordance with the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014.

• Finance Link is a financial service provider which operates under the ‘Finance Link’ brand. Finance Link through its contracted advisors provides financial advice to clients.
• Contracted advisors run their own businesses. They are Financial Advice Providers under the Financial Markets Authority Act 2013 and each advisors business is required to be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR).
• We engage Advisors to provide financial advice to clients. The FSPR shows the Financial Advisors which we have engaged, and they can also be searched on our website.

Licence information

Finance Link Limited is a registered financial service provider and is a member of NZ Financial Services Group Limited (FSP 286965), issued by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Finance Link and it’s contracted advisors are authorised under this licence.

Nature & scope of the financial advice given.

This document sets out some information abut Finance Link and the Financial Advisors that are engaged by Finance Link, as required by the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2013. Each Advisor has their own disclosure guide. These are not available on our website but are provided on request and otherwise are provided by the Financial Advisor when they are engaged to provide financial advice by a current or prospective client.

In this Disclosure Statement, we refer to Finance Link’s Publicly Available Information Disclosures and the Financial Advisors Disclosures guide collective as Advisor Disclosures.

Financial Advice and Product Providers

Finance Link and its Financial Advisors provide financial advice direct to clients.

We primarily provide financial advice relating to business and commercial lending, asset finance, working capital and property related transactions such as home loans and commercial property loans. We only provide advice about products from providers we are certified and registered with.

Our Advisor Disclosures:

• Set out the specific products that we can provide financial advice on.
• Set out the relevant product providers.

Commission and Incentives

On settlement of a loan, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider. The commission is generally of an upfront nature but may also include a renewal or trail commission. We also receive a fixed rate roll over fee from some product providers if we assist in refinancing your loan.

This commission is used to remunerate the financial adviser that provides the advice, and to pay the expenses associated with running our business including any rent, staff costs and IT resources. From this commission we also pay NZ Financial Services Group Limited for services they provide to us in connection with our authorisation under their licence from the Financial Markets Authority.

We take steps to ensure that the receipt of commissions does not influence the advice we give to you and that our advisers prioritise your interests by recommending the best product for your purpose regardless of the type and amount of commission we or they may receive. We do this by:

• Ensuring our advisers follow an advice process that ensures they understand your needs and goals and that their recommendations on insurance cover meets those needs and goals.
• Ensuring our advisers receive regular training on how to manage conflicts of interest.
• Providing you with a schedule showing commission amounts and types by product provider. This schedule is contained within each Financial Adviser’s personalised Disclosure Guide. A Financial Adviser will provide you with more information about commissions during the advice process.

Fees and Expenses

Service Fee:

Finance Link Limited may charge a fee for the financial advice provided to the client in certain circumstances. Whether a fee will be charged will be advised before the work is started and agreed in writing with the client. This fee will typically be charged where:

• The service we provide to our clients are advisory in nature and will not result in a commissionable transaction.
• The nature of the work relating to the lending is particularly complex.
• Our client has requested that we complete work to obtain a finance approval for a transaction, and in the event that this transaction is not completed the financial approval does not result in a commissionable transaction.
• The lending is expected to be repaid within a short time period and thus will incur a commission clawback.

Clawback Recovery Fees:

In the event that a client repays a loan early, Finance Link Limited may be required by the funding partner to refund all or part of the commission they received. This is commonly referred to as a ‘clawback’. Finance Link may charge a client the amount of such clawback in the event that the funding partner charges Finance Link Limited (Clawback Recovery Fee).

For Business and Commercial lending products Finance Link Limited may, at its discretion, require the client to indemnify Finance Link Limited for the full amount of the clawback. This clawback recovery fee will be payable by the client to Finance Link Limited, at the time the loan is early terminated, or by the 20th of the month after the loan is repaid.

For Home Loans and consumer products in relation to the consumer credit contracts act an early repayment charge may be incurred where a client repays a home loan within the first 27 months of the loan being advanced. To ensure that Finance Link Limited is fairly compensated for the services originally provided to its clients we may seek to recover some or all of the cost from the clients via a clawback recovery fee.

For Home Loans, if you are charged a clawback recovery fee, it will be charged at the actual commission clawback amount or .50% of the balance repaid up to a maximum of $2,500 plus GST. Examples of when a clawback recovery fee may be charged for home lending are:

• The property is refinanced within the clawback period and Finance Link Limited was not given the opportunity to arrange the refinance.
• The property was sold and/or loan repaid within the clawback period.

Conflicts of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Complaints & Dispute Resolution

If you have a complaint about our service, you need to tell us about it. You can contact our internal complaints service by phoning us on (0800 Number) or emailing us at info@financelink.co.nz with the heading Complaint – (Your Name).

Please set out the nature of your complaint, and the resolution you are seeking. We will acknowledge receipt of this within 24 hours. We will then record your complaint in our Complaints Register and notify our Licence Holder. We may want to meet with you to better understand your issues.

We will then investigate your complaint and provide a response to you within 7 working days of receiving your complaint. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we’ll let you know.

If we cannot agree on a resolution, you can refer your complaint to our external dispute resolution service. This service is independent and will cost you nothing and will assist us to resolve things with you.

Details of this service are:

Financial Services Complaints Limited
Phone: 0800 347 257
Email: complaints@fscl.org.nz