Sustainable business loan

You can be a new or existing Kiwibank business customer. You must meet the bank’s lending criteria and responsible business policy and provide evidence for the approved purpose.

• Energy efficiency and renewables: Commercial-premises efficiency upgrades must improve energy efficiency by more than 25%, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). Examples include LED lighting, heat pumps, electric process heating, insulation and glazing. Provide an independent expert report or product specification demonstrating the electricity improvement, plus a quote or invoice. Renewable projects can include solar, wind, geothermal, qualifying hydropower, biomass, green hydrogen and storage; provide an expert report, quote or invoice showing the renewable purpose. For both routes, provide proof of purchase and/or installation within 90 days of loan advance. Fossil-fuel-powered assets or machinery, including natural gas, are excluded. Large-scale or new sea/river generation is considered case by case.
• Certified buildings: Commercial properties require at least 5 Star Green Star; residential developments require at least 6 Star Homestar. These are independently assessed New Zealand Green Building Council design/build ratings. New commercial buildings need a valid version 1-or-newer Design certificate from a certified assessor, followed by an As Built certificate within two years of the Code of Compliance Certificate. New residential buildings need version 4-or-newer Design and Built certificates on the same timetable. Buying or refinancing existing buildings requires the corresponding As Built or Built certificate obtained within the last five years. Buying or refinancing offices can instead use a 4 Star-or-better NABERSNZ Certified Rating for annual energy use; evidence of maintaining it is required annually. Refinancing an existing green building covers debt directly incurred in its construction, and you must already own it; provide evidence of the debt and a valuation.
• Social or transitional housing: Provide an agreement to sell or lease the property to a registered Community Housing Provider or an associated government public-housing entity. Building construction costs need invoices and assessor, quantity-surveyor or valuer evidence for staged loan payments, as applicable. Property purchases need a sale-and-purchase agreement and valuation. Refinancing covers debt directly incurred in construction of a building you already own; provide evidence of that debt and a valuation.
• Transport and equipment: Eligible light or heavy vehicles include new electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Electric-vehicle charging infrastructure and new electric plant or machinery can also qualify. The bank excludes used vehicles, conventional internal-combustion vehicles, non-plug-in hybrids, fossil-fuel equipment/supply infrastructure, used electric equipment and internal-combustion or hybrid machinery. Machinery must also meet standard asset-finance criteria. Provide an expert report, quote or invoice showing the low-carbon outcome, then proof of purchase and/or installation within 90 days of loan advance.
• Water and waste: Packaging must be 100% reusable, recyclable or home compostable; compostable packaging must demonstrate a closed-loop/circular system. Circular processes must turn inputs into usable outputs and divert waste from landfill. Waste infrastructure must directly reduce landfill through reuse, recovery, sorting, processing or recycling. Water-efficiency measures must reduce overall consumption by at least 25%, measured in litres, with an expert report or product specification plus a quote or invoice. Packaging/circular and waste infrastructure projects need an expert report, quote or invoice showing waste reduction. All these routes require proof of purchase and/or installation within 90 days of loan advance. New carbon-, energy- or water-intensive systems and fossil-fuel waste processing are excluded.
• Organic food and aquaculture/fisheries: Infrastructure, goods or equipment for organic food production beyond the farm gate, such as food-production, supply or storage equipment, require certification by an agency recognised under the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Official Organic Assurance Programme. Aquaculture or fisheries activities require Aquaculture Stewardship Council or Marine Stewardship Council certification. Provide evidence of that certification and an expert report, quote or invoice showing the sustainable outcome, followed by proof of purchase and/or installation within 90 days of loan advance. Wild commercial fishing, fossil-powered machinery, pollution, bottom trawling, ghost fishing and activities without the applicable certification are excluded.
• Conservation and land use: Permanent forestry can finance equipment/infrastructure or land purchase with an intended planting plan. Conservation can finance regeneration, rewilding, environmental protection or conversion of existing non-sustainable tourism to ecotourism. Kiwibank must accept your forestry, conservation or land-use plan. Forestry plans must improve biodiversity, exclude deforestation and minimise heavy equipment; conservation/land-use plans must protect biodiversity, exclude deforestation and minimise destructive construction. Biodiversity-loss practices, slash forestry, non-permanent forestry/deforestation and fossil-powered forestry equipment are excluded.
• B Corp businesses: Your certification must already be current; applying for certification does not qualify. Provide current certification, maintain it and supply re-certification evidence. Preferential pricing on existing borrowing is worked through with Kiwibank according to your lending needs and timing.

The responsible business policy excludes entities directly involved in, or earning most revenue from, casino operation; coal, oil or natural-gas production/manufacture/extraction; manufacture, distribution or retail of military-grade, legally prohibited, cluster, nuclear, mine, depleted-uranium, chemical or biological weapons and intended components; manufacture/production of synthetic drugs in the policy’s non-medicinal and recreational category, including cannabinoids, cathinones, psychoactive herbal products, psilocybin mushrooms/spores and hallucinogens such as kratom; lending at more than 50% interest per year; and tobacco growing/production, tobacco-product manufacture or e-cigarette/vaping-device production/manufacture. Sensitive sectors require a risk-mitigation assessment: higher-stakes lotteries and sweepstakes and gaming-machine operations; petrol and diesel wholesalers, distributors and retailers; designing, building, testing or servicing infrastructure or equipment for excluded defence activities; tobacco/vaping wholesalers, distributors and retailers; private prisons and correctional facilities; strip clubs, brothels and pornography production or publishing; off-licence alcohol wholesalers, distributors and retailers; metal-ore, rare-earth, sand and gravel mining; and fruit orchards or grapevine cultivation employing Recognised Seasonal Employer workers. Kiwibank retains discretion to make policy exceptions. Read the linked policy for its exact sector definitions.

Status

Løpende søknader

Vilkår for søknadsrunden

• Subject to Kiwibank lending approval and evidence for the sustainable purpose.

Contact Kiwibank’s business banking team to discuss your sustainable purpose and the borrowing product. Call 0800 601 601, or +64 4 803 1646 from overseas, Monday to Friday, 8 am–5 pm, or use the business-banker contact route. The team assesses eligibility and the evidence required for your category.

For energy, transport, water/waste, industry and conservation investments, document eligible costs with detailed invoices showing your business name, supplier, goods/services and costs, plus applicable technical or cost reports. Building projects have their own certificate, valuation and staged-payment evidence requirements. Keep the category-specific post-advance or post-completion evidence deadlines above.