At Afterpay, we're committed to ensuring that you can purchase with confidence while spending responsibly. As part of this commitment, and in line with New Zealand's laws and regulations we will review credit reports when increasing spend limits for existing customers and when new customers sign up with Afterpay. We are also required to report credit activities to relevant bureaus to help maintain an accurate record of your credit history.
We’ll collect your consent before conducting any checks or providing any information to credit bureaus. You will only need to provide consent once, and we’ll handle the rest with utmost confidentiality and care.
When we’ll be performing credit checks and what they mean for you:
From the 23rd of July 2024, we will begin performing credit checks.
- For our existing customers, we'll perform credit checks to assess whether higher spend limits are suitable for you. These checks will not be visible to other lenders and will not impact your credit score.
- For new customers, we'll perform a credit check when assessing your application to join Afterpay. This enquiry may be visible to other lenders and may impact your credit score.
Comprehensive Credit Reporting: In addition to credit checks, from August 2024, we will be collaborating with credit bureaus in sharing credit information. This includes the good (when you’re up-to-date with your payments) and the not-so-good (when you are late on your payments). Lenders may use this to assess your creditworthiness. This applies to all customers, both new and existing, providing you have given us consent to do so.
Will credit checks impact my credit score?
Making consistent on-time payments with Afterpay could be one way to positively impact your credit score. On the flipside, late payments may lead to a negative impact on your credit score.
In New Zealand, we are required to report credit activities to relevant bureaus to help maintain an accurate record of your credit history. We also review credit reports when onboarding new customers, and when we consider increasing spend limits.
Will using Afterpay affect me being able to get a home loan?
Using Afterpay should not affect your ability to be approved for other lending, such as a home loan. When applying for a home loan, banks and other lenders may undertake a range of checks to make sure that you can afford your future loan repayments, including accessing your credit report and asking you about your regular expenses.
This may include your spending on Afterpay; but spending on discretionary items - which is what Afterpay is used for - should not affect how much you can borrow for your home loan. However, this is always subject to the lender’s credit criteria.
What happens if you’re a new customer signing up for Afterpay and your application fails?
We evaluate several factors when reviewing your application, including the details of your credit report. If you aren’t successful, you will not be able to open an account and you won’t be able to use Afterpay.
If your application is affected by the information in your credit report, we'll notify you. This decision is based on the credit information provided by Centrix, a trusted credit reporting body.
The credit report is about you, but it's owned by the credit bureau. You have the right to access it and correct any mistakes.
Understanding your credit report can help you make better financial decisions. It's also important to ensure the information is correct, so you're fairly represented to lenders.
How to obtain a copy of your Credit Report:
To request your report, please contact Centrix directly. It's crucial to ensure that your credit information is accurate. If you find discrepancies or have any disputes regarding your credit report, please reach out to Centrix using the contact details below:
- Website: centrix.co.nz
- Email: helpdesk@centrix.co.nz
- Phone: 0800 836 274
- Mail: PO Box 62512, Greenlane, Auckland 1546
Afterpay is not able to provide you with a copy of your credit report.
For more information, visit the govt.nz website.
How your spend limit can increase:
We take our time to get to know you before increasing your spend limit. We start new customers off at a lower spend limit and increase it gradually over time.
When assessing whether a spend limit increase is appropriate for you, we take into consideration a variety of factors, including your on-time payment history, how long you’ve been with us, and the information contained in your credit report.
If a spend limit increase isn’t right for you at the time, there will be no impact to your existing spend limit. There are circumstances however which may lower your spend limit (such as missing a payment).
Typically, the longer you’ve been using Afterpay and making payments on time, the more likely your spend limit will increase.
What if I don’t consent to performing credit checks and credit reporting? Will I still be able to use Afterpay?
We require your consent to check your credit file and to provide information to credit bureaus. We do these in order to fulfil our regulatory obligations in New Zealand.
For existing customers, you will need to give consent to continue using Afterpay in the same way you have been. Your consent will be obtained the next time you place an order with Afterpay either online, through the Afterpay app or in-store checkout via the app. If you don’t wish to provide consent, you can close your account under Settings in the Afterpay app, or get in touch with our team and we’ll be able to do this for you.
It is important to understand that consent is a mandatory part of the sign-up process with Afterpay. Without providing this consent, new customers will unfortunately not be able to complete the registration process or make purchases using Afterpay.