Finance Now business lending overview.

Finance Now Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBS Bank (Southland Building Society), a registered bank in NZ supervised by the Reserve Bank of NZ. The Companies Office record confirms the corporate ownership structure. SBS Bank itself is one of NZ's established mutually owned banks, headquartered in Invercargill, which provides the prudential framework that backs the Finance Now lending operation.

Finance Now's NZ business product set is focused on asset-secured chattel mortgage finance: commercial vehicle finance (utes, vans, light trucks, trailers), plant and equipment finance (tractors, machinery, yard kit), marine and recreational commercial finance (charter, tourism, light commercial fishing), and direct SME asset finance through the financenow.co.nz online application path. The lender does not specialise in pure unsecured term loans or commercial mortgages.

Indicative business amounts run from around $5,000 to $250,000, with the most common dealer-channel applications sitting in the $30,000 to $150,000 band. Above $150,000 the application typically follows a credit-officer review path with extended documentation. The amount is anchored to the asset value and the credit profile of the business and any directors providing personal guarantees.

Finance Now does not publish a single advertised commercial rate; pricing is set per application. Indicative bands sit at 11% to 16% p.a. on commercial vehicle chattel mortgages, 11% to 17% on plant and equipment, and 12% to 18% on marine assets. Actual rates depend on the lender's assessment, including asset class, term, deposit, business trading history, and director credit profile.

Smaller dealer-channel applications under $50,000 commonly receive a decision within a business day, with settlement available within 2 to 7 business days where the dealer paperwork is complete. Larger or more complex applications (asset outside the standard dealer band, atypical credit profile, amounts above $150,000) follow a credit-officer review and typically take 2 to 5 business days for a decision and another week to settle.

On a chattel mortgage, the GST on the asset purchase is typically claimable in the next GST return where the business is GST-registered and the asset qualifies, subject to the accountant's confirmation on the specific business position. This is one of the structural reasons businesses commonly choose chattel mortgage over operating lease. The interest component is generally deductible against business income where the asset is used primarily for business, again subject to the accountant's confirmation.

Finance Now and UDC Finance both sit in the dealer-channel non-bank asset-finance tier in NZ, with broadly similar product shapes (chattel mortgage, dealer-presented). UDC has a longer history at scale and a broader heavy-transport book; Finance Now has the SBS Bank parent and a notable marine and recreational footprint. Major-bank asset finance commonly prices below both on like-for-like applications backed by an established banking relationship, with a slower process and tighter trading-history thresholds.

Standard documents include the NZBN, business owner ID, last 3 to 6 months of business bank statements, director consent for a credit check, and the asset supplier quote or dealer order. Larger applications (above $150,000) and more complex profiles add a recent P&L statement and a brief on cash-flow position. On marine and recreational applications, survey reports and operator licence references are commonly part of the credit assessment.

Yes, on a Finance Now chattel mortgage the lender registers a security interest against the financed asset on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR). The registration records the lender as the secured party until the loan is repaid in full. The asset sits on the borrower's balance sheet and is depreciated by the borrower; the PPSR registration is the lender's formal claim that takes effect on default.

On default, Finance Now's first remedy is to enforce the security interest registered on the PPSR and recover the asset. Where the recovered asset's sale value falls short of the outstanding loan balance, the lender pursues the difference (the deficiency) through the personal guarantee against directors. Persistent non-payment moves to formal default and credit-file marks. Working with the lender early on a temporary cash-flow setback is widely the cleaner outcome for both sides.

Finance Now is a financial service provider under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008, registered on the FSPR, and operates under NZ AML/CFT obligations. The parent SBS Bank is a registered bank supervised by the Reserve Bank of NZ under the Banking (Prudential Supervision) Act 1989, which provides the broader prudential framework. Where a sole trader or guarantor's borrowing is wholly or predominantly for personal use, CCCFA obligations can also apply at the contract level.

Refinance applications are accepted where the asset class fits the Finance Now product set and the credit assessment supports it. The refinance structure typically pays out the existing lender directly and registers a fresh PPSR security interest. Common triggers are credit profile improvement after 12 to 24 months of clean repayments, a rate cycle move, or consolidating multiple asset loans onto one schedule. Early-repayment fees on the original loan are the main consideration.