NZ: CCCFA 2003¶


Regulator	RBNZ
Jurisdiction	NZ
Status	live
Applicability	Platform

The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA), as amended most recently in 2021–2022, is the primary consumer credit statute in New Zealand. It imposes lender responsibility principles, requires detailed affordability assessments, mandates initial and continuing disclosure of prescribed information, caps unreasonable fees, and provides hardship relief rights to borrowers. The 2021 amendments significantly strengthened the affordability assessment requirements, requiring lenders to make inquiries into income, expenses, and the likelihood of substantial hardship before entering any credit contract. Regulated by MBIE; enforced primarily by the Commerce Commission. RBNZ also has supervisory interest under its lending standards (DTA Lending).

Section references are indicative — refer to the Act as amended for precise statutory language.

Compliance register¶

This register maps every material obligation under the Act to the platform control or institutional process that satisfies it. It is the static traceability layer for the Totara compliance report — dynamic data (module build status, test evidence, control test dates) is overlaid at runtime.

Scope legend¶

Symbol	Meaning
🤖 Automated	Platform enforces or performs the obligation. Primary control mode is GATE, AUTO, CALC, or ALERT. Human action is not required in the normal case.
📊 Evidenced	Platform captures the evidence trail automatically. Human compliance decision sits on top. Primary control mode is LOG.
🏛 Institutional	Obligation is met by a process entirely outside the platform — training programmes, board governance, HR, legal. Platform may generate evidence inputs but does not own the process.
N/A	Obligation does not apply to this deployment configuration.

Build legend¶

Symbol	Meaning
✅	Module built and deployed
🔨	Module planned — not yet built (`build_status: Not started`)
❌	Uncontrolled gap — no module attributed

Lender responsibility principles (ss.9C–9F)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.9C	Lender must not enter a credit contract if it is likely to cause substantial hardship to the borrower at the time of entering it — suitability assessment required	🤖 Automated	CRE-002	MOD-110 (GATE) — credit facility cannot be activated without a completed suitability assessment; no override path below credit officer role; MOD-027 (CALC) — affordability calculation documented automatically for every application	🔨
S.9C(2)	Lender must make reasonable inquiries about the borrower's requirements and objectives, income, expenses, and financial situation before entering a credit contract	🤖 Automated	CRE-002, CRE-003	MOD-027 (CALC) — income and expense verification computed automatically; MOD-048 (LOG) — all inputs and model version logged against every automated credit decision	🔨
S.9D	Lender must keep a written record of the inquiries made and the reasons for the credit decision	📊 Evidenced	CRE-003	MOD-027 (LOG) — affordability calculation is the credit decision artefact; consistent, auditable, regulator-ready; MOD-048 (LOG) — every credit decision auditable	🔨
S.9E	Lender must take reasonable steps to obtain reliable information — cannot accept unverified income claims without cross-checking	🤖 Automated	CRE-002	MOD-027 (CALC) — verification inputs sourced from transaction history and open banking feeds, not self-declaration alone	🔨
S.9F	Lender must make reasonable inquiries about existing financial commitments and expenditure	🤖 Automated	CRE-002	MOD-027 (CALC) — net disposable income calculation incorporates verified existing commitments drawn from credit bureau and transaction data	🔨

Initial disclosure (ss.17–20)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.17	Provide initial disclosure statement before or when the credit contract is entered — must include prescribed terms: total amount of credit, annual interest rate (EAR), total repayment amount, fees, and cancellation rights	🤖 Automated	CRE-002, CON-004	MOD-050 (GATE) — responsible lending disclosure (repayment amount and total cost) shown and acknowledged before loan acceptance; no contract is entered without this gate completing	🔨
S.18	Disclosure must be in writing and in plain language	🏛 Institutional	CON-004	Platform generates the disclosure content from a compliant template; template design and language review is an institutional legal process	—
S.20	Cancellation period — borrower may cancel within 5 working days of receiving initial disclosure without penalty	🏛 Institutional	CON-004	Platform enforces the 5-day cancellation window via contract state machine; cancellation rights messaging is an institutional design obligation. MOD-050 (GATE) presents the cancellation rights notice at disclosure.	🔨

Continuing disclosure (ss.21–23)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.21	Regular continuing disclosure — periodic statements showing amount owing, interest charged, payments made, and current fees	🤖 Automated	CON-004, CRE-002	MOD-050 (GATE) — disclosure obligation met before every product acceptance; MOD-122 (AUTO) — periodic statements generated and delivered on schedule, including balance, interest accrued, fees charged, and total cost of credit to date	🔨
S.22	Variation disclosure — notify borrower of any change to contract terms at least 5 days before the change takes effect	🤖 Automated	CON-004, CON-005	MOD-050 (GATE) — fee disclosure shown before any fee-generating action; MOD-127 (GATE) — rate or fee change blocked until affected customers notified with required advance notice	🔨

Fees (s.41)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.41	Fees must not be unreasonable — a fee is unreasonable if it exceeds the lender's reasonable costs attributable to the matter to which it relates	🤖 Automated	CON-005	MOD-110 (GATE) — fee posting blocked if the required advance notice period has not elapsed; MOD-110 (LOG) — every fee event (assessment, waiver, posting, reversal) logged immutably with fee type, amount, waiver reason, and fee schedule version	🔨
S.41(2)	Credit fees — establishment fees, administration fees, and prepayment fees must each satisfy the reasonableness test	📊 Evidenced	CON-005	MOD-110 (LOG) — fee schedule version tracked per event; reasonableness testing is an institutional actuary/legal process; platform provides the audit trail	🔨

Hardship (s.55)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.55	Borrower may apply for hardship variation; lender must respond within 10 working days	🤖 Automated	CON-008, CRE-007	MOD-053 (ALERT) — IDR SLAs enforced automatically; hardship application cases flagged and escalated if 10-working-day response SLA is not met	🔨
S.55(4)	If hardship variation is granted, lender must provide disclosure of the varied terms	🤖 Automated	CON-008, CRE-007	MOD-117 (ALERT) — customers drawn on overdraft for more than 60 consecutive days are flagged for financial hardship review; MOD-053 (AUTO) — hardship case created and tracked through IDR workflow	🔨
S.55B	Lender must not take legal action or enforcement action during a hardship application	🏛 Institutional	CRE-007	Platform enforces a collections hold via account state during an active hardship case; enforcement decision is institutional	—

Early repayment and prepayment (s.53)¶

Ref	Obligation	Scope	Policy	Platform controls	Build
S.53	Borrower has an absolute right to prepay a loan at any time; lender may charge a reasonable prepayment fee	🤖 Automated	CRE-007	Prepayment pathway is a product configuration option; fee calculation, if applicable, is automated via MOD-110 (CALC) and disclosed via MOD-050 (GATE) before execution	🔨

Institutional obligations (not platform scope)¶

The following obligations under the Act are the responsibility of the institution, not the platform. The platform may generate evidence inputs but does not own these processes.

Obligation	Owner	Platform evidence input
Annual compliance certification to Commerce Commission	Chief Compliance Officer	MOD-047 and MOD-048 provide the audit evidence base for the certification
Template design and plain-language review for all disclosure documents	General Counsel / Head of Product	MOD-050 generates disclosures from approved templates; template governance is institutional
Reasonableness testing for fees (actuarial / legal analysis)	Chief Financial Officer / General Counsel	MOD-110 provides fee schedule version and cost data inputs
Hardship enforcement hold decisions	Head of Collections	Platform enforces account-state hold; enforcement action decision is institutional
Training lenders on responsible lending obligations	Chief People Officer	Not platform scope

Coverage summary¶

Area	Total obligations	Platform automated 🤖	Platform evidenced 📊	Institutional 🏛
Lender responsibility principles	5	4	1	0
Initial disclosure	3	1	0	2
Continuing disclosure	2	2	0	0
Fees	2	1	1	0
Hardship	3	2	0	1
Early repayment	1	1	0	0
Total	16	11 (69%)	2 (12%)	3 (19%)

All attributed modules are currently build_status: Not started — the compliance position will update as modules are built and deployed.

Policy	Title
CRE-002	Responsible Lending Policy
CRE-003	Credit Decisioning & Scorecard Policy
CRE-004	Loan Origination Standards
CRE-007	Collections & Hardship Policy
CON-004	Product Disclosure & Sales Practice Policy
CON-005	Fee & Pricing Transparency Policy
CON-006	Product Suitability and Governance
CON-008	Financial Hardship Policy

See D02 Credit Risk and D04 Customer & Conduct.

Official documentation¶

Policies referencing this standard¶

CON-004 — Product Disclosure & Sales Practice Policy
CON-005 — Fee & Pricing Transparency Policy
CON-006 — Product suitability and governance
CON-008 — Financial Hardship Policy
CRE-002 — Responsible Lending Policy
CRE-003 — Credit Decisioning & Scorecard Policy
CRE-004 — Loan Origination Standards
CRE-007 — Collections & Hardship Policy
CRE-009 — Fixed-Rate Component Break-Cost Methodology Policy

Compiled 2026-05-22 from source/entities/regulations/nz-cccfa.yaml