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Customer and Product Data Act 2025

Regulated data services - Main obligations - Joint customers

21: How data holders and accredited requestors must deal with joint customers

You could also call this:

“Rules for sharing information when you have a joint bank account or loan”

When you share a financial product or agreement with someone else, you are called ‘joint customers’. This law explains how companies handle your information when you’re a joint customer.

The rules for joint customers are set by the government. These rules cover how you can ask for your information or give permission for it to be shared. They also explain how companies should respond to these requests.

The government can make different rules for different situations. For example, they might say that:

  • Any one of the joint customers can make a request on their own
  • Two or more joint customers need to agree before making a request
  • All joint customers must agree before making a request
  • Joint customers can’t make certain requests at all

The government can also make rules that let you see or change how requests can be made for your joint account.

These rules for joint customers are very important. They affect how other parts of the law work.

You’re considered joint customers if you share a financial product (like a bank account) or have an agreement together with a company.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS791043.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Banking and loans Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection Rights and equality > Privacy
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20: Data holder may or must refuse to perform actions in certain circumstances, or

"When a company can or must say no to sharing your information"

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22: Data holder must provide product data to any person, or

"Companies must share specific product info if you ask nicely through a special system"

Part 2 Regulated data services
Main obligations: Joint customers

21How data holders and accredited requestors must deal with joint customers

  1. This section applies to a regulated data service provided in connection with 2 or more joint customers.

  2. A data holder and an accredited requestor must deal with the joint customers in the manner prescribed by the regulations, including in connection with the following:

  3. when or how the joint customers may or must make a request or give an authorisation under this subpart:
    1. how the data holder or accredited requestor may or must deal with a request or authorisation from 1 or more of the joint customers:
      1. when a request made, or an authorisation given, by 1 or more of the joint customers must be treated as effective (or ineffective) for the purposes of this Act.

        1. Regulations made for the purposes of this section may (without limitation) provide for any of the following:

        2. allowing or requiring a data holder or an accredited requestor to deal with a request or an authorisation in any of the following ways (on the terms and conditions (if any) specified in the regulations):
          1. that a request or an authorisation may be made or given by any 1 or more of the joint customers (without the other joint customers):
            1. that a request or an authorisation may be made or given only by 2 or more of the joint customers acting together:
              1. that a request or an authorisation may be made or given only if it is made or given by all of the joint customers acting together:
                1. that a request or an authorisation may not be made or given by or on behalf of the joint customers:
                2. allowing 1 or more joint customers to view or change permissions for how those joint customers may or must make a request or give an authorisation.

                  1. Sections 14 to 20 are subject to this section.

                  2. In this section, 2 or more customers are joint customers if—

                  3. they jointly hold a financial product issued by the data holder; or
                    1. they have rights or obligations under the same agreement with the data holder.

                      1. In subsection (5), financial product has the same meaning as in section 7 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.