Quick answer
Before sharing documents with an online lender in New Zealand, check the company on the Companies Register, look it up on the Financial Service Providers Register, confirm its NZBN, check the website address letter by letter, and call a phone number you found independently. Also search the name with the word 'scam' and check the FMA's warnings list. Registration does not guarantee quality, but no registration is a serious warning.
Key points
- Companies Register and Financial Service Providers Register are free to search
- Check the NZBN and that the legal name matches the documents
- Verify the web address and phone number independently
- Search for warnings, including the FMA warnings list
You would not hand your bank statements and passport to a stranger on the street. Online, the stranger can look like a polished brand. A five-minute routine before you share anything sorts the genuine lenders from the imitations. Do it every time, even for names you think you know.
What is the five-minute routine?
| Minute | Check | Where | What you want to see |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Company exists | Companies Register | Active company, sensible incorporation date, directors listed |
| 2 | Financial services listing | Financial Service Providers Register | The legal entity is registered for relevant services |
| 3 | NZBN matches | NZBN register | Same legal name and details as the documents you received |
| 4 | Website and phone | The address bar, a search engine | Exact domain, phone number matches independent sources |
| 5 | Warnings | Search “[name] scam”, FMA warnings list | Nothing alarming |
How do you check the Companies Register?
Search the company’s legal name. Look at its status (it should be registered and not in liquidation), when it was incorporated, its directors and its registered address. A “lender” incorporated three weeks ago with a director in another country deserves extra questions. Business.govt.nz suggests searching the Companies Register as one of the basic checks against scams.
What does the Financial Service Providers Register tell you?
The Financial Service Providers Register is a public list, run by the Companies Office, of individuals and organisations that offer financial services in New Zealand. Search the legal entity name. If it is not there, ask why. Remember: registration is a listing, not an endorsement. Some services also need a licence from the Financial Markets Authority or the Reserve Bank. Use registration as a minimum bar, not proof of quality.
Why check the NZBN?
A New Zealand Business Number is a free, 13-digit identifier available to every business, linked to its primary business data on a central register. Companies are allocated one automatically. Checking the NZBN on documents against the register helps confirm you are dealing with the entity you think you are — and not a look-alike using a similar trading name.
If everything checks out with us, start your enquiry. Our legal entity and NZBN are in the footer of every page.
How do you verify a website and phone number?
Website. Read the domain letter by letter. Cloned sites use tricks like extra hyphens, swapped letters, or different endings (.co instead of .co.nz, .com instead of .online). Do not rely on how the page looks; logos and wording are easy to copy. Type the address yourself or use a bookmark rather than clicking links in messages.
Phone. Find the number independently — from the official website you typed yourself, or a directory — and call it. If the number in an email or text does not match, do not use it.
What warnings should you search for?
Search the company name plus “scam”, “fraud” and “complaints”. Check the Financial Markets Authority’s warnings and alerts list, which flags entities it is concerned about. Look for news coverage. One unhappy review is normal for any business; a pattern of “never received the loan” is not.
Which questions should you ask the lender directly?
Genuine lenders answer these happily:
- What is your full legal name and NZBN?
- Are you registered on the Financial Service Providers Register?
- What fees apply, in dollars, and when are they charged?
- Will you ever ask me to pay anything before settlement?
- How will you send documents, and from which email domain?
Evasive or pressured answers are information in themselves.
Worked example (illustrative): a Whangārei electrician receives a professional-looking email offering a $50,000 equipment loan from a company with a familiar-sounding name. The Companies Register shows the real company with that name is a dormant shelf company registered in 2025 with no financial services listing. The email domain differs from the website. He ignores it and reports it to the NCSC.
What about brokers and lead sites?
Brokers and introducers should be just as easy to check. They should tell you who they are, how they work and who they will share your details with. Be wary of sites that collect your information and then pass it to many lenders at once — beyond the privacy concern, it can trigger multiple credit enquiries. Read credit checks explained for why that matters.
What does a genuine lender’s paperwork look like?
Real loan documents have a consistent identity running through them. The legal entity name on the offer matches the Companies Register. The NZBN matches. The email domain matches the website. The bank account for repayments is in the lender’s name, not an individual’s. Fees are listed in dollars. There is a physical address you can look up. Documents arrive through a recognised e-signing platform or secure portal, not as an editable Word file attached to a free webmail message. None of these alone proves a lender is genuine, but inconsistencies between them are one of the fastest ways to spot a fake. Keep a short note of the details you verified — company name, NZBN, phone number, website — so you can compare every later message against it.
How often should you re-check?
Do it at the start, and again whenever something changes: a new contact person, a new email address or a new bank account. Scammers rely on catching you mid-process, when you have stopped checking.
Check us, then start
We encourage you to run this routine on us. Our legal entity and NZBN appear in the footer and on our legal pages. When you are satisfied, the enquiry takes a minute, involves no credit check, keeps your details with one team instead of a lender free-for-all, and is read by a real person. Fill it in accurately so we can match you well. Start your enquiry.
Frequently asked questions
Does being on the Financial Service Providers Register mean a lender is approved?
No. Registration is a listing, not an endorsement. Some services also need a licence from the Financial Markets Authority or the Reserve Bank. Treat registration as a minimum, not a seal of quality.
What is an NZBN?
A New Zealand Business Number — a free, 13-digit identifier linked to a business's core details on a central register. Companies are allocated one automatically.
What if the lender is overseas?
Be extra careful. Check whether it is registered to provide services in New Zealand and how you would resolve a dispute.
Can a scam company be on the Companies Register?
Yes, registering a company is easy, and scammers sometimes impersonate real companies. That is why you check web addresses and phone numbers independently too.