Frequently Asked Questions

Phone: 0800 227 484
Fax: 0800 001 477
Email Address: service@zethus.co.nz
Postal Address: P O Box 11187, Ellerslie, Auckland 1542

We are open during standard business hours:

Monday:         8.30am – 5.30pm
Tuesday:         8.30am – 5.30pm
Wednesday:   8.30am – 5.30pm
Thursday:       8.30am – 5.30pm
Friday:             8.30am – 5.30pm

Unfortunately, we do not operate on Public Holidays.

All supporting documents must be received no later than 4.00pm in order for us to process your application on the same day.

If you apply for a loan over the weekend, your application will be reviewed on the following business day.

You should complete a personal budget, you could use free budgeting services such as, sorted.org.nz or Citizens Advice Bureau.

You should only borrow what you need and make sure you can meet the required repayments, without putting yourself into any form of financial hardship.

To pre-qualify, you need to meet the below criteria:

• You need to be at least 18 years old and a NZ citizen or resident currently living in New Zealand;
• You need to have been permanently employed with the same employer for at least 3 months;
• For our ‘On The Go’, ‘Jump Start’ and ‘Active’ loans, you need to be earning at least $350 a week (after tax) excluding government benefits;
• For our ‘Loan Plus’ loans*, you need to be earning at least $800 a week (after tax) excluding government benefits;
• Your pay needs to be credited on a regular basis into your own NZ bank account that has been open for at least 3 months;
• You are not currently Bankrupt, under a No Asset Procedure or Summary Instalment Order;
• You have access to the Internet and a mobile phone.

Please note this is a guide only – in certain circumstances we may not be able to offer you a loan.

*Available solely to our Returning clients, on an invitation-only basis and are still subject to standard eligibility, lending and affordability criteria.

You need to have been permanently employed for at least 3 months. We are only able to lend money to working New Zealanders who could repay the loan without experiencing financial difficulties.

You wouldn’t qualify for a cash loan with us if you are:

• Unemployed
• Under ACC
• A Beneficiary
• A Disability Beneficiary
• A Pensioner
• A Student

As long as you receive a regular income that meets our income thresholds after tax ($350/week for ‘On The Go’, ‘Jump Start’ & ‘Active’ Loans, $800/week for ‘Loan Plus’ Loans*) that is direct deposited into your bank account, you may still be approved. However, we review these loan applications on a case-by-case basis.

*Available solely to our Returning clients, on an invitation-only basis and are still subject to standard eligibility, lending and affordability criteria.

Provided you have a regular job in addition to your benefit and your salary/wages is your main source of income, you may still qualify for a payday advance – however, we are unable to help if you are on a benefit only. We are mindful of ensuring any loan will be able to be repaid without undue hardship.

• If you are under the age of 18;
• Not currently living in New Zealand or not a New Zealand Resident or Citizen;
• Not receiving a fixed wage or salary into your bank account;
• Earning less than our minimum income thresholds;
• Not working at your current job for the 3 months or more;
• Are currently bankrupt, under a Summary Instalment Order or under a No Asset Procedure.
• Our responsible lending processes indicate that the loan may not be affordable for you or could place you in to hardship.

You could borrow:

‘On The Go’ from $100 – $1,000.
‘Jump Start’ from $1,000 – $3,000.
‘Active’ from $3,000 – $5,000.
‘Loan Plus’ from $5,000 – $10,000*.

Please note that the maximum amount is partially based on your income after expenses. As a responsible lender, we will only lend up to a percentage of your regular income – partially based on how much you earn and how much you have left after expenses. This loan affordability check will only form part of your online application process.
You will be able to see an indication of how much you may qualify for, before accepting any loan agreement. The quickest way to check is to refer to our loan calculators located on our home page.

*Available solely to our Returning clients, on an invitation-only basis and are still subject to standard eligibility, lending and affordability criteria.

Unfortunately, not. We require that all loan applications be submitted online, via this website. The online application ensures accurate information is relayed to us, which allows for speedy processing of your loan application. Please contact us if you are having issues on our website, we will be happy to assist you.

Your pay must be consistently deposited directly into your own NZ bank account.

‘On The Go’ Loans: 
Usually no, but we reserve the right to do so if we feel it’s absolutely necessary.

‘Jump Start’ / ‘Active’ / ‘Loan Plus’ Loans: 
Yes, for loans of this size and duration we do need to do a credit check to assess and ensure the affordability of your repayments. However, this is only a part of our loan application review process and is not the only information we consider.

Yes, as responsible lenders and to ensure you can afford our loans we may call your employer to verify any information provided during your application process.

• ‘On The Go’ Loans:

We normally only do one anonymous call to your employer during the application stage, but we reserve the right to do a full employer check.

• ‘Jump Start’ / ‘Active’ / ‘Loan Plus’ Loans:

We normally only do an anonymous call to your employer during the application stage, but we reserve the right to do a full employer check, This may include contacting your payroll to request any information which may help speed up the processing of your loan application.
Should you default on your loan, your referees and employer may be contacted, but usually only if we can’t contact you or make a suitable repayment arrangement.

To qualify for a loan with us, you need to have your own NZ bank account with your wages paid directly into that account.

You can use a joint bank account, as long as your name is on it and we can clearly see your wages / salary being paid to that account and you confirm it is a one signature signing account.

An application can be made online by you at any time, 24/7. You do not have to wait for anything to apply for a loan with us. However, we will only be able to process your application during business hours.

The maximum term of a loan with us depends on how often you are paid and what loan type you have selected:

‘On The Go’ Loans = We allow up to 6 weekly repayments, 3 fortnightly repayments, or 1 monthly repayment.
‘Jump Start’ Loans = We allow up to 36 weekly repayments, 18 fortnightly repayments, or 9 monthly repayments.
‘Active’ Loans = We allow up to 72 weekly repayments, 36 fortnightly repayments, or 18 monthly repayments.
‘Loan Plus’ Loans* = We allow up to 156 weekly repayments, 78 fortnightly repayments, or 36 monthly repayments.

*Available solely to our Returning clients, on an invitation-only basis and are still subject to standard eligibility, lending and affordability criteria.

All costs of borrowing can be found here.

This is an optional fee if you are able to supply a copy of your own third party Insurance details (This must contain an Income Protection Policy).
For our ‘Jump Start’, ‘Active’ and ‘Loan Plus’ unsecured loans, we must have a valid type of repayment waiver or income protection policy.

Full details of the coverage and terms & conditions of our Repayment Waiver are set out on page 4 of the loan agreement, a sample of which can be found here.

If you have had issues with your credit in the past – such as defaults, judgments and collections – you may still be approved for a loan as we mainly look at your current ability to repay it.
However, your application will be declined if you are currently Bankrupt or have come off bankruptcy or SIO within the last 6 months.

We understand you may have had and repaid a cash loan with us previously, but to be responsible, we need to take into account the applicant’s (your) ongoing financial position. Therefore, every loan application is treated on an individual basis.

1. The whole application process is done online. This means you will need to have internet access, your own mobile phone and your own NZ bank account number to apply.
2. Experiment with our calculator to find out what combination of loan amounts and number of repayments best suit your financial needs. Once you have decided what term, amount and number of repayments you would like, click the Apply Now and fill out our online application form.
3. If you have filled this out, read and accepted the contract and click submit, you will then receive an email outlining the short set of documents we require to process your application.
   Supporting documents include; most recent 90 days bank statements, a valid photo ID, selfie and recent proof of address to process your application.
4. Once our lending team have received your documents, they will process your application and will provide you with an outcome shortly thereafter.

An online application submitted through our website stays valid for 3 days.
If we do not receive all required documents by the end of the third day – we cancel the application on the morning of the fourth day.
This is because the loan contract that was generated in your online application can only stay valid for 3 days.
We make several contact attempts via phone call, email and text during the 3 days your application is valid to follow up on any missing documentation we require to process the loan.

If you have applied but decide that you do not require the funds anymore, please contact us to cancel the loan application. This can easily be done if we haven’t yet paid the loan to you.

If your loan has been approved and you wish to cancel – please see the section called ‘What if I want to cancel my approved loan?’.

Simply scan and email the requested documents. No printing, signing or faxing required.

For our ‘On The Go’ products, we require:

• Latest 3 months’ worth of bank statements
• Valid Photo ID (Passport, NZ Driver’s Licence or Firearm’s Licence)
• Proof of address (less than 3 months old)

For our ‘Jump Start’ / ‘Active’ / ‘Loan Plus’ products, you will also need to supply:

• A selfie of you holding your Photo ID (see our guide)
• Any other document we may request to be able to validate the information provided by you

As a regular Returning Client, you usually wont need to send anything in.

• If you did have a direct debit come out in the last 2 days, you will just need to send us a copy of your bank statement showing the payment has cleared from your end, as we are unable to confirm this for 2 business days.
• If you haven’t had a loan in the last 3 months, you will need to provide a bank statement showing your full account number, name, running transaction history and last 2 pays.
• You may have to send in an updated Photo ID, if it has expired since your last loan with us.
• You may have to send in a Photo ID Selfie if you have not previously done so and you have triggered our internal threshold requiring us to obtain one from you.
• If you are looking to consolidate your Short-Term loans – you may be required to send in a statement of account for those loans.

We need basic information from you to confirm details, and administer the loan responsibly.
The most important information we require is:

• Your income details: So we can ensure you are only borrowing an amount you can afford to repay!
• Your physical home address: To confirm your residence in New Zealand.
• Employment status: To help us confirm your eligibility, as without a job we cannot lend to you!
• Pay cycle and the date of your next pay: This allows us to set up your direct debits correctly.

If you have changed your mind on the amount that you require, you will need to call us to cancel the existing loan application. We will then advise you when you can go ahead and reapply, which you can do by logging into your account and filling in the new loan application form.
However, if the amount you are requesting is more than your personal application limit, then the documents will default to your personal application limit.

We strive to review all loan applications within 60 minutes of receiving all of the required paperwork (8.30am – 5.30pm, business days only).
Any delays in getting your paperwork to us will delay the application process.

You can scan or take photos of the documents with your smart phone and email them to us, upload them using our online upload facility or fax them to us.
See here for our contact details.

Once your loan application has been submitted successfully, you should be able to log in to your account and under the ‘Loan Status‘ tab you will find our tracking system.
This will let you know what documents we have received and what documents we are still waiting on.
Normally, you should hear from us within 60 minutes of sending all the required documentation.

‘On The Go’ Loans: 
We offer two payment types:

• Overnight Payment: (Standard and Free of charge)
• Same Day Express Payment: (issued to bank in 30 minutes, a small fee is charged for this service)

Please visit this page for more in depth information on the limitations and timings of the Same Day Fast Payment.

‘Jump Start’ / ‘Active’ / ‘Loan Plus’ Loans: 
We can only offer one payment type:

• Overnight Payment: (Standard and Free of charge)

You have the right to cancel the loan at any time. Interest and fees will cease being charged following full repayment. There are no additional costs for cancelling your loan. Any Repayment Waiver Fee charged to you will be refunded in full if you cancel your loan in the first thirty days or otherwise will not be refunded.

Please refer to your Loan Agreement for full terms and conditions or see a sample Loan Agreement here.

It’s easy – we set up an automatic direct debits for your convenience, to make deductions from your bank account when you get paid.
You have to ensure the required cash is available in your bank account as agreed.
The total due will then be deducted from your bank account automatically on the repayment date(s).
The dates are typically aligned with your payday. All payment dates will be clearly stipulated in your loan agreement.

There are no fees or charges for you to pay your loan off early. You will actually pay less, due to the reduced interest from your early repayment. We encourage our clients to make early repayments wherever possible.

Please contact us to arrange this, especially if you have a Direct Debit due (as we will not know whether to stop it or if you are simply making an extra payment on top of your Direct Debit).

If for some reason you are not able to make a repayment on time or you decide you want more or less repayments, then you can contact us and we can look into adjusting your repayments – adjustments are looked at on a case-by-case basis. We must be notified at least 24 hours before the day that your direct debit is due; otherwise we cannot guarantee that the payments can be amended.
There is a small fee for this as set out in your loan contract. We cannot do adjustments on first loans.

1. We will need you to update your bank account, either by clicking the “update any changes” link of your login account, or by contacting our customer service team either by email or phone.
2. We will then need a bank statement showing your new account number, and that the new account is in your name, and with your last two pays on it.
3. We will issue you with a new Direct Debit Authority form to sign before we can make the change in the system.

We will need to know about updating the bank account number at least 24 hours before the date that you have a direct debit due; otherwise we cannot guarantee that the account will be changed.

If you are applying for a subsequent loan, please make sure you have updated your bank account number prior to applying; as our renewal process is very quick and could be processed before you have been able to notify us of the changes.

‘On The Go’ Loans: 
It can take up to 2 business days for a payment from you to clear, so if you wish to apply for another unsecured cash loan before then, you will need to send through a bank statement showing that your final payment has cleared. Please consider if reusing our service is appropriate for you.

‘Jump Start’ Loans

You can apply for further funds if;

1. You currently have an open ‘Jump Start’ Loan and it has been running longer than half of its original term (provided you are currently not in default)

OR

2. You have paid off your last ‘Jump Start’ Loan in full.

‘Active’ Loans

You can apply for further funds if;

1. You currently have an open ‘Active’ Loan and it has been running longer than half of its original term (provided you are currently not in default)

OR

2. You have paid off your last ‘Active’ Loan in full.

‘Loan Plus’ Loans*

You can apply for further funds if;

1. You currently have an open ‘Loan Plus’ Loan and it has been running longer than half of its original term (provided you are currently not in default)

OR

2. You have paid off your last ‘Loan Plus’ Loan in full.

*Available solely to our Returning clients, on an invitation-only basis and are still subject to standard eligibility, lending and affordability criteria.

Our direct debits are taken out on the dates stated on your loan contract. These dates must be in line with your pay dates (i.e. if you select the 20th of the month, then we will direct debit (generally in the early evening) on the 20th).
We will contact you to adjust the date selected if it does not coincide to your pay date.

If your payment date falls on a weekend or public holiday, then we will attempt to direct debit on the following business day.

Unfortunately we don’t keep your passwords on file for security reasons, so you will need to head to the returning customers tab and reset it by entering your email address into the reset password box.
You will need the mobile you applied with to receive our SMS Authorisation Code to reset your password.
If your mobile has changed, you are on the Skinny network, or you haven’t received the code after ten minutes, then please call us and we will happily assist in resetting your password.

Please advise us of any change to your contact information by logging in to your account online and clicking the “Update Personal Details” in the ‘My Account’ tab.

Please advise us of any change to your contact information by logging in to your account online and clicking the “Update Personal Details” in the ‘My Account’ tab.
For employment changes we will need the new contact details for your new employer and will require a bank statement showing your last two deposited pays to verify your new base income.

Please keep in mind that if your pay amount has changed this may affect your personal application limit, for example, if you earn more you could be eligible to borrow more than you have previously. Please also advise us if your pay date changes, so we can amend your direct debits too.

A default fee will apply for every missed or failed payment and will be added to your existing loan balance.
You can find information on these fees in your loan contract or on our cost of borrowing page.

Default Interest is also charged on an account once a payment has failed and the account has fallen in to arrears. Default interest is charged only on the amount that is overdue.
Once the overdue amount is paid and the account is brought up to date, default interest is no longer applied.

If you contact us early to arrange a make-up payment within 48 hours, we may be able to wipe some of the default fees and interest.

We will only use the wage deduction authority on your loan contract as a last resort if you seriously default on your repayments. If you miss one payment and contact us to sort out the payment, then we will not send off the wage deduction.

However, if you repeatedly miss repayments and do not make timely contact with our office to make alternative arrangements, then we may send off a wage deduction authority.

You may need a PDF Reader installed on your computer – you can download it for free from www.adobe.com.

Absolutely!
We provide a 256-bit bank level encryption of data, creating a ‘read only’ service – this means we cannot make any changes or transactions on your accounts. Once the data has been loaded, the connection to the bank is closed immediately.

We have also had our service independently tested by an industry leading security service.

We do everything we can to ensure that only the best level of security is safeguarding your important information.

You should contact us as soon as you can; as default fees and/or default interest will apply for missed or failed payments. Please click here for assistance on what to do.

We strive to provide a quality service to all of our customers. However on occasions things don’t always go smoothly, but don’t worry we will endeavour to put things right.

As a responsible lender, we are a member of an independent dispute resolution scheme operated by Financial Services Complaints Limited (“FSCL”) and approved by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
Please click here for information on our complaints process and details on our independent dispute resolution scheme.

You are eligible to apply for unforeseen substantial financial hardship if:

1. You have not been in default for more than 2 months; and
2. You have not missed 4 or more payments; and
3. You have not previously applied for hardship in the last 4 months (unless your current application is due to materially different reasons than the last application); and
4. The cause of your financial hardship was NOT reasonably foreseeable to you at the time you took out the loan.

Please click here to fill in our form to request our financial hardship application and guide.

Once submitted, you should receive our PDF application and guide within 48 hours.

Applies to ‘Jump Start’, ‘Active’ and ‘Loan Plus’ loans only.

For full details of what events are covered under your repayment waiver and any exclusions – please refer to page 4 of your loan contract or page 4 of our Sample Contract online.

Please click here to fill in our form to request our repayment waiver application and guide.
Once submitted, you should receive our PDF application and guide within 48 hours.