Our Preferred Companies for Personal Loans in NZ
Jessica McNamara
| Last Updated: January 2021 Need a personal loan? If you do, you’re on the right page, as we’ve put together the leading companies offering personal loans in NZ here for you.
There’s a myriad of lenders out there you can borrow a personal loan from. Since loans differ in interests and fees, how do you know which one you should go for?
That’s why we wrote a guide on the basics of choosing a personal loan. Hopefully, this will be of help as you look through our choices later on.
Without further ado, let’s start!
How to Choose a Personal Loan
A personal loan lets you borrow cash to use for your own needs and wants. You will have to pay back this borrowed amount with interest within the agreed period.
Through a personal loan, you can settle daily expenses like groceries, medical bills, and travel, as well as pay for bigger costs such as a new car and house renovation.
To find a personal loan suited to you, here are the things you should do:
1. Check your options
You can apply for a personal loan from various lenders. These are:
Family and Friends
Your family and friends might help you if you are in need of money. The great thing about this is you won’t have to pay back what you owe them with interest, depending on your agreement.
However, if you fail to pay a friend within the expected time, your relationship with them can turn sour and they won’t likely lend money to you the next time around.
Banks and Credit Unions
After getting a no from a friend or family member, your next option would be to get a personal loan from banks or credit unions.
These institutions offer excellent loans because they can give you a lower interest rate and let you repay it conveniently over a particular period.
Peer-to-Peer Lenders
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lenders are excellent to get a personal loan from since they lend at very low-interest rates. However, the rate will still depend on your credit score.
P2P services are not owned by the bank but by investors. It’s a win-win situation where they earn from having many clients and you from the lower interest rate.
Loan Companies
Loan companies offer personal loans topped up by high-interest rates. The upside to this is that loan companies usually offer quick processing of loans and easier repayments.
It goes without saying that you should know the interest rate and total cost of the loan you’re getting from them first before you make any commitments.
Work and Income
If you can’t afford basic living costs, you could get in touch with Work and Income. They may be able to help provide a hardship grant provided that you qualify.
2. Pick the loan with the lowest interest rate
It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get the lowest interest from a lender. As we’ve been saying, they will base the interest on your income and credit record.
If you’ve mostly been a great payor—paying your bills on time and in full—you will get much better rates than if you ignored or evaded your loan obligation in the past.
The lowest rates range from around 6% to 23%. As different insurers will offer different rates, you have to shop around in order to find the best deal.
3. Find a repayment term that you can afford
Make sure that you can afford the repayment. Otherwise, it will defeat the purpose of acquiring a loan and you would just be in a worse financial state than before.
Most lenders give you options for repayment for a certain number of years and how often you would pay. You should take advantage of these to find what works best for you.
That said, we recommend that you pay off your loan as quickly as possible so that you won’t spend more than what is necessary.
4. Review the fees of the loan
Each loan comes with an establishment or one-off fee that you have to settle. This usually costs more than $100, corresponding to the amount that you’ve loaned.
However, other loan products have variable fees (like for car loans) or don’t have any initial fees at all (like with First Credit Union loans).
It also helps if the loan does not have an early repayment fee. Some lenders charge this fee as it can affect their ability to profit from the loan transaction with you.
Personal Loans in NZ
Having gone through the basics, you’re now ready to see our list of personal loans in NZ. Here goes:
1) Harmoney
| Best for | Low-interest unsecured loans |
| Loan Products | Education Car Holiday Wedding Business Medical Home Renovation |
| Address | 79 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland 1023, New Zealand |
| Contact Details | +64 800 427 666 |
| Office Hours | Open 24/7 |
| Establishment Fee | Under $5,000 loans: $200 $5,000 and up loans: $450 |
Harmoney is a P2P lending company headquartered in Auckland. Offering super-low rates from 6.99%, Harmoney has some of the most comprehensive unsecured personal loans in NZ.
You can loan with them for your personal needs such as additional wedding funds to house renovation. The repayment is convenient with weekly, monthly, and fortnightly payment options.
There is an establishment fee of $200 for loans under $5,000 and $450 for loans of $5,000 and above. The maximum amount you can loan is $70,000.
The application can be purely done online and won’t take any time at all. Once your loan has been approved, you will receive your money within 1-3 business days.
Pros
- Market-leading rates from 6.99%
- Simple online application
- Fast turnaround within 1-3 business days
- No early repayment fee
Cons
- High establishment fee
2) Lending Crowd
| Best for | Secured loans |
| Loan Products | Holiday Painting Debt Consolidation Jet Ski Others |
| Address | QB Studios, 206 Jervois Street, Auckland, New Zealand 1011 |
| Contact Details | +64 800 308 002 [email protected] |
| Office Hours | Monday – Friday: 8.30 AM – 5.00 PM Saturday & Sunday: closed |
| Establishment Fee | $2,000 – $5,000 loan: $200 $5,050 – $50,000 loan: $450 $50,050 – $100,000 loan: $950 $100,050 – $200,000 loan: $1,450 |
Another peer-to-peer lending powerhouse, Lending Crowd provides secured and unsecured loans for individuals and businesses from $2,000 to $200,000.
For secured loans, they offer low rates starting from 5.03%, depending on your credit rating. They’re lower than unsecured loans, but you’ll have to pledge your assets.
If you’re avoiding that risk, you can then apply for their unsecured loan with rates from 5.66%. But before you apply, we advise that you try getting a quote first.
With Lending Crowd, you can finally buy the car you’ve always wanted or go on a summer holiday with your family. And there’s absolutely no early repayment fee!
Pros
- Decent rates from 5.03%
- Fast quoting system
- No early repayment fee
Cons
- High establishment fee
3) Simplify
| Best for | Car loans |
| Loan Products | Car Motorcycle Boat |
| Contact Details | 0800 001 561 [email protected] |
| Office Hours | Monday – Friday: 8.00 AM – 5.30 PM Saturday & Sunday: closed |
| Establishment Fee | Variable fees |
Getting a car loan from a dealer will cost you more, but with Simplify, you won’t. Let their staff handle everything, after you’ve picked the specific car you want.
Getting a quote from Simplify will only take you less than 7 seconds and the approval will be done in just a few hours.
They let you loan from $5,000 to $150,000 payable within 1 to 5 years’ time. Once your claim is approved, your car will be delivered to you the very next day.
Note that their car loans are secured so you will get a competitive rate. You can then concentrate on paying it back as well as enjoy driving your car around the city!
Pros
- Competitive interest rates
- Instant quote and approval
- Special discounts
Cons
- You won’t get to inspect the car yourself
Customer Reviews
Simplify garnered stellar reviews on Feefo, with most clients saying that the staff were fast, efficient, and friendly.
One satisfied customer wrote a review:
“Trent Adam was just amazing went a step ahead and help me out with better deal than i was looking for my overall situation. Highly recommend.”
Furthermore, another customer left this comment:
“Quite simply the fastest and most digitally literate company that you can deal with. I dealt with Paul Adams who made the whole experience a breeze. There was no mixed communication, and what was quoted for repayments was cheaper than any competitor.”
4) The Co-operative Bank
| Best for | Debt consolidation |
| Loan Products | Personal loans |
| Address | New Zealand-wide |
| Contact Details | Phone: +64 800 554 554 Overseas: +64 4463 1758 |
| Office Hours | Monday – Friday: 8.00 AM – 8.00 PM Saturday – Sunday: 9.00 AM – 5.00 PM |
| Establishment Fee | $200 |
Since 1928, The Co-operative Bank has been helping Kiwis with their banking and finance needs. They offer personal loans with floating rates starting from 6.99% to 19.99% p.a.
The smallest amount you can borrow is $3,000 while the largest is $50,000. You can choose whether you want to repay the loan monthly, weekly, or fortnightly.
If you have multiple debts, you may want to bring them together so you’ll only settle one simple payment with one interest rate.
An establishment fee of $200 should be paid when you get a loan from the bank. This will be added to the total amount that you will borrow.
As interest rates change, their team will notify you of the changes to your repayment immediately. By the way, you can view your loan balance anytime through the bank’s app.
Pros
- Easy online application
- Reliable app
- Offers special deals
Cons
- Interest rates could go up
5) NZCU Baywide
| Best for | Flexible loan options |
| Loan Products | Car & vehicle Holiday & travel Home renovation Debt consolidation |
| Address | New Zealand-wide |
| Contact Details | 0800 229 943 [email protected] |
| Establishment Fee | $250 |
NZCU Baywide is an esteemed credit union that New Zealanders have come to depend on and have some of the most reliable personal loans in NZ.
They offer both secured and unsecured loans with rates from 9.90% to 28.90%. The amount they can lend is from $2,000 to $50,000, payable for 6 months to 7 years.
That gives you more time to repay your loan, letting you live the dream—whether you want to travel to Paris, buy a Mercedes, get rid of your existing debts, or build your savings.
You will have to pay an approval fee of $250 for you to take out a loan, though. Furthermore, registering for a loan is quick and hassle-free and done online.
Pros
- Max loan term of 7 years
- Easy online application
- Has internet banking
Cons
- Higher interest rates compared to others
Customer Reviews
A lot of customers were satisfied with the service provided by NZCU Baywide. They also said that applying for a loan with NZCU had been a breeze.
One customer wrote a review of the credit union:
“All the staff at the Palmerston North, New Zealand branch are wonderful – very helpful and knowledgeable. Getting a loan was a very easy process.”
Plus, Stevi posted this comment:
“Very high interest and high fees but excellent staff and very easy to apply with.”
FAQS about Personal Loans in NZ
So there you have it for our picks for personal loans in NZ. If you need an affordable personal loan, you can simply apply with the ones we’ve listed here!
Did we forget to include other creditors in this list? You can tell us which ones they are by sending us a message, and we’ll check them out.
Need financial assistance in buying a house? If so, you may want to check out our list of NZ home loans as well.
