These Terms were last updated on 01/12/2023
1. These Terms apply to your use and access of the Platform and the Services.
2. By accessing the Platform and/or Services and/or creating an Account with us, you are acknowledging and agreeing that you have read and understood these Terms and are entering into a legally binding agreement with us and the Trustee. In particular, you are acknowledging and agreeing that you have read and understood the Risk Statement in relation to the use of the Platform and the Services.
3. In these Terms, Debut, we, us or our means Debut Limited and any reference to you or your means you, the person or entity who accessed and/or uses the Platform.
4. Where your access and use is on behalf of another person (e.g. a company), you confirm that you are authorised to, and do in fact, agree to these Terms on that person’s behalf and that, by agreeing to these Terms on that person’s behalf, that person is bound by these Terms.
5. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not create an Account and must cease using the Platform and Services immediately.
6. If there is any conflict between these Terms and any written or verbal communication between you and us or the Trustee, these Terms will take precedence.
How does the Platform work?
2.1 The Platform is offered by Debut. The Platform enables individuals and/or entities who sign up to the Platform to spend and budget better and save smarter.
2.2 You acknowledge that neither Debut nor the Trustee issues and/or offers financial products, provides a client money or property service, or provides a discretionary investment management service within the meaning of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act). Nor do we or the Trustee provide any financial advice within the meaning of the FMC Act. Accordingly, no disclosure document has been, or will be, provided in relation to the Platform or Services in accordance with the FMC Act, or any other similar or subsequent legislation.
Holding your money
2.3 The Trustee acknowledges and declares that it will hold the money, and Interests in your Account on bare trust for you in accordance with these Terms. This means that the Trustee holds the legal title to the money, and Interests in your Account, but you remain the ultimate beneficial owner.
2.4 You acknowledge the money in your Account may be held in ‘pooled accounts’, which means your money may be held in account(s) in the name of the Trustee along with the money of other people using the Service. Interests in your Account may also be held in ‘pooled accounts’ in the name of the Trustee with the relevant providers. However, the Trustee will, at all times, keep detailed records of money, and Interests in your Account, so that your beneficial entitlement to the money, and Interests is separately identifiable.
2.5 You agree that we may terminate the appointment of the Trustee, and appoint a replacement Trustee, provided we give notice to you of the change.
2.6 You instruct and authorise the Trustee to act in accordance with instructions we give to it in relation to your Account including to:
a) deduct any fees or other charges or amounts you owe to us from your Account, and to pay those amounts to us; and
b) otherwise deal with and manage the amounts, and Interests in your Account.
2.7. You agree that you will not give any instruction to the Trustee in relation to any amounts or Interests held on bare trust for you which is inconsistent with these Terms or in breach of any law, and the Trustee will have no obligation to act on any such instruction. The Trustee will remain as bare trustee as contemplated by these Terms and you may not terminate the trust and/or the Trustee’s appointment under these Terms.
3.1 If you wish to access and receive the Services you must first create an Account in accordance with the requirements of the Platform and these Terms.
3.2 Establishment of an Account is at our discretion, but to be eligible you must:
a) be resident in New Zealand or present in New Zealand at the time you access the Platform or apply to open an Account on the Platform;
b) be at least 18 years old
c) have and continue to have a bank account with a New Zealand registered bank;
d) have and continue to have a valid email address and password;
e) have and continue to have a valid New Zealand mobile phone number;
f) provide accurate, complete and truthful information as required by us for any reasonable purpose, including Account opening and AML/CFT requirements; and
g) consent to us contacting you about your Account (including to verify the Personal Information that you have provided to us in your Account) or the Services.
3.3 You acknowledge that your Account on the Platform may not be immediately activated on submitting your application.
3.4 Once your Account has been activated, you may use the Services.
Personal Information
3.5 You authorise us or third parties we may use, to take necessary steps to validate and authenticate your Account opening information, and any other information you provide to us, including for the purposes of complying with AML/CFT requirements.
3.6 If we are not satisfied with the outcome of such enquiries, we may terminate your Account immediately, refuse to let you create such an Account or take any other action necessary to comply with any applicable legislation, regulation or if required by one of our regulatory bodies.
3.7 If your information changes at any time, you must notify us immediately.
3.8 For more information on our collection, use and storage of Personal Information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Topping up the Account
4.1 To use the Platform, you must transfer an amount of NZD to your Account using the banking details we provide to you. The maximum amount of NZD you can transfer to your Account at any one time is $10,000.
4.2 We currently accept NZD only but may place other requirements on the accepted currency for topping up your Account.
4.3 We may accept top-ups by bank transfer or credit card facility. We may charge a card processing fee and limit the amount you can top up by card. We may also impose a minimum top up amount.
4.4 We do not accept responsibility for any default or delay in the distribution of money as a result of a failure on the part of a bank or other service provider.
4.5 If we are unable to identify which Account money should be credited to, we may instruct the Trustee to return money to the source it came from, subject to normal banking clearance times.
4.6 You acknowledge and agree that no returns are promised by Debut, and returns are not guaranteed. 7
Withdrawing money from your Account
4.7 You may request to withdraw money from your Account at any time. While Debut does not charge you any fees for withdrawals, we cannot guarantee that banks or other service providers involved in processing your withdrawal request will not.
4.8 You must instruct the Trustee to pay your money to a designated bank account in accordance with the requirements specified on the Platform. Subject to clause 4.10, we expect your withdrawal requests will be processed within 3 to 5 Business Days.
4.9 Where we consider it is reasonably necessary due to, for example, restrictions in the technology (including third party protocols) we use, we may impose restrictions on the maximum daily amount that can be paid out to your designated bank account. We reserve the right to change this threshold without prior notice to you but will publish on any such restrictions on our Platform.
4.10 We are not responsible for any delays by banks or other service providers in relation to the transfer of money from your Account to your designated bank account.
5.1 You represent and warrant to us and the Trustee (on a continuing basis) that:
a) you will provide true, current and complete information (including your contact details) in all of your dealings with us or the Trustee; and
b) you are the beneficial owner of the Account and no one else has rights of any kind over the amounts (including security interests) in the Account; and
c) you will not be in breach of or infringe any provisions of any existing arrangements to which you are a party to by agreeing to these Terms.
5.2 You must:
a) comply with and use the Platform and our Services in accordance with these Terms;
b) comply with all applicable laws, including cooperating, assisting and providing information to us in relation to such compliance when we request;
c) act in good faith towards us, the Trustee, and other users at all times;
d) keep your Account username and password secure, confidential, and protected from misuse;
e) immediately notify us if you become aware of any disclosure or unauthorised use of your user details, by sending an email to contact@makingdebutbank.co.nz;
f) report any problems or vulnerabilities with our Platform and/or Services of which you become aware; and
g) access the Platform via standard web browsers only and not by any other method. Other methods include scraping, deep-linking, harvesting, data mining, use of a robot or spider, automation, or any similar data gathering, extraction or monitoring method.
5.3 You must not:
a) act in a way, or use or introduce anything (including any virus, worm, Trojan horse, timebomb, keystroke logger, spyware or other similar feature) that in any way compromises, or may compromise, the Platform or any Underlying System, or otherwise attempt to damage or interfere with the Platform or any Underlying System;
b) use the Platform and/or the Services to engage in any restricted, unethical, or illegal activities (whether illegal in New Zealand or where you are located),
c) access or use the Platform and/or Services from any jurisdiction other than New Zealand where it may be illegal or require action or compliance by us;
d) do anything else that may interfere with or negatively affect the operation of our Platform, the Services or other users’ use and enjoyment of the Services and/or the Platform; and
e) permit any other person to use your user details, including not disclosing or providing it to any other person.
5.4 You are responsible for your own tax obligations arising from transacting with us in relation to the Platform.
6.1 We (and/or our suppliers and licensors to the extent relevant) own all proprietary and Intellectual Property Rights in the Platform and the Underlying Systems used in providing our Services. Nothing in these Terms transfers any of our rights or interests in or to such Intellectual Property Rights to the you or any third party.
6.2 When using this Platform and/or the Services, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use those software, tools or applications only as required for your use of the Platform and the Services and as expressly permitted in these Terms.
6.3 You must not use, reproduce, store, publish, adapt, communicate to the public, distribute to third parties, amend, create derivative works from any part of the Platform or the Services without our prior written consent or otherwise do anything that would infringe our Intellectual Property Rights in the Platform or Platform Material.
6.4 References on the Platform to any companies, products, services, branding, offers or other information, by trade name, trademark or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation by us or the respective trademark owner.
6.5 You acknowledge and confirm that any improvement, modification or development of our Intellectual Property Rights arrived at through access to your information or feedback (New IP) will be owned exclusively by us, and nothing in these Terms grants you any rights to our technology or other Intellectual Property Rights.
6.6 If, despite clause 6.1, you own any Intellectual Property Rights in New IP, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferrable and sublicensable right to use such Intellectual Property Rights without restriction.
6.7 We reserve all right, title and interest not expressly granted under this licence to the fullest extent possible under applicable laws and you agree to do anything necessary, including executing any documents, to give full effect to this clause 6.
7.1 To the extent permitted by law, we and our suppliers and licensors have no liability or responsibility to you or any other person for any Loss in connection with:
a) the Platform being unavailable (in whole or in part) or performing slowly;
b) any error in, or omission from, any information made available through the Platform;
c) any change in the nature of any investment (whether through change in business activity or credit trading), any contributions to or withdrawals from the Account, or any delays that arise while effecting adjustments to the Account, which result from an occurrence not reasonably within our control; and
d) any exposure to viruses or other forms of interference which may damage your computer system or expose you to fraud when you access or use the Platform. To avoid doubt, you are responsible for ensuring the process by which you access and use the Platform protects you from this.
7.2 We make no representation or warranty that the Platform is appropriate or available for use in all countries or that the content satisfies the laws of all countries.
8.1 You are responsible for any third-party fees, costs or expenses you incur in relation to receipt of our Services.
8.2 If any amounts are outstanding by you, you agree that we can do either one, or a combination of, the following:
a) set off any money you owe us against money we owe you;
b) immediately cancel or suspend any of your withdrawal requests without any responsibility to you;
c) take legal action against you to recover any debt and any costs and expenses we incur in recovering the debt.
9.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law:
a) you access and use the Platform at your own risk; and
b) neither Debut nor the Trustee is liable or responsible to you or any other person for any Loss under or in connection with these Terms, the Platform, or your access and use of (or inability to access or use) the Platform, unless this is caused by the gross negligence, wilful default or fraud of Debut or the Trustee (as the case may be).
9.2 Neither Debut nor the Trustee is liable for any delay in performing, failing to perform, or breach of these Terms and any Service due to any circumstance or event beyond the reasonable control of Debut or the Trustee (including the availability of the Platform, act of God, pandemic, or change of law, regulations or policy). Debut and the Trustee will aim to use reasonable efforts to perform their obligations as soon as practicable following the cessation of these events.
9.3 Where you are a ‘consumer’ for the purposes of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, nothing in these Terms limits or excludes your consumer guarantees and remedies pursuant to that legislation. Nothing in these Terms is intended to limit any rights or remedies pursuant to the Fair Trading Act 1986 or the FMC Act.
9.4 To the extent clauses 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 of these Terms do not apply, and subject to clause 9.5, if Debut or the Trustee is found to be liable for any Loss under or in connection with these Terms, or in connection with use and access of (or inability to access or use) the Platform, the maximum aggregate liability to you of Debut and/or the Trustee will be limited to the balance in your Account (including any returns) at any time.
9.5 Other than in respect of any claims arising under clause 9.3, a claim must be made in writing to Debut or the Trustee (as the case may be) within 12 months of the date on which you became aware of the circumstances which gave rise to the claim. Neither Debut nor the Trustee shall be liable for, and you shall not be entitled to make or pursue, a claim unless you have given written notice of your claim, setting out reasonable particulars of the grounds on which it is based, within that 12-month period.
10.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, you indemnify Debut and the Trustee from, and hold each of them harmless against, any and all Loss which may arise out of or relates to:
a) your use of the Platform and/or the Services;
b) any breach of these Terms or Privacy Policy by you;
c) any information that you provide via the Platform; or
d) any damage that you may cause the Platform.
10.2 This indemnification includes without limitation, liability relating to intellectual property rights and breaches of privacy.
11.1 The Platform may contain links to Third Party Platforms.
11.2 We make no representation or warranty as to, and are not responsible or liable for, the Third Party Platforms, the accuracy, legality, decency or any other aspect of any Third Party Content nor for any infringement of third party Intellectual Property Rights as a result of hosting links to Third Party Platforms and Third Party Content on the Platform.
11.3 All statements, representations, offers, products or services provided through Third Party Platforms and Third Party Content are the sole responsibility of the operator of the Third Party Platform or the author of the Third Party Content and in so far as such links to Third Party Platforms or Third Party Content are hosted on the Platform they are done so at the request of the operator or author for the purposes of promoting their offers, products and services. Except where expressly stated otherwise, we do not act as agent, representative, partner or in any other capacity on behalf of such operator or author.
11.4 The inclusion of a Third Party Platform or Third Party Content on our Platform does not imply our endorsement, recommendation or support of the applicable website or any information, opinions, third party goods or third party services referred to on it.
12.1 To manage compliance with these Terms and any law or requirement by any authority, we reserve the right to:
a) review, audit and monitor (manually or through automated means) your use of the Platform and/or the Services;
b) take any action we deem appropriate in our sole discretion in accordance with our policies, including suspending or terminating your Account, editing, removing or blocking any content that we deem inappropriate or unacceptable, and in the case of any illegal or suspected illegal activity, reporting any matters to the appropriate authority; and
c) access, collect, preserve or disclose information about your use of the Services and/or the Platform (including your communications and content you submit) as is necessary to:
(i) comply with any legal process;
(ii) enforce these Terms;
(iii) respond to any claims or complaints about any content you submit, or act or omissions by you;
(iv) respond to your customer service requests; and
(v) protect the rights, property, safety of us, any user or the public.
13.1 Any Personal Information collected, processed, stored and used by us or the Trustee in connection with our Services, the Platform will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020, these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
13.2 You also agree to comply with any laws applicable in relation to the collection, processing, and storing of your Personal Information in connection with our Services.
13.3 We may collect technical information whenever you log on to, or visit the public version of, our Platform, including how you arrive at, browse through and interact with our Platform. We may collect this type of technical information through the use of cookies and other means. If you want to disable cookies, you may do so by changing the settings on your browser. However, if you do so, you may not be able to use all of the functions on the Platform. We use the technical information we collect to, among other reasons noted in our Privacy Policy, have a better understanding of the way people use our Platform, to improve the way it works and to personalise it to be more relevant and useful to your particular needs.
13.4 We may disclose your Personal Information to third parties to use for any purpose in connection with performing our Services. This may include, among other things, disclosing information:
a) to service providers and other persons working with us to make the Platform available or improve or develop its functionality (e.g. we may use a third party supplier to host the Platform);
b) in relation to the proposed purchase or acquisition of our business or assets; or
c) where required by applicable law or any court, or in response to a legitimate request by a law enforcement agency.
13.5 Any Personal Information you provide to us may be stored on the secure servers of our trusted service providers, which may be located outside New Zealand. This may involve the transfer of your Personal Information to countries which have less legal protection for Personal Information than New Zealand.
13.6 You have the right to request access to and correction of any of the Personal Information we and the Trustee hold about you. If you would like to exercise these rights, please email us at contact@makingdebutbank.co.nz.
14.1 For any questions or complaints about our Platform or the Services, please contact us at contact@makingdebutbank.co.nz. Upon receiving your written complaint, we will acknowledge your complaint by email within 5 Business Days of receiving it.
14.2 We will aim to undertake our review of your complaint and send any findings to the email address with which you sent the complaint.
14.3 As registered financial service providers, we and the Trustee are each members of an approved dispute resolution scheme. If we fail to resolve a complaint to your satisfaction or if we fail to do so within 40 Business Days of receiving your complaint, you can also direct your complaint to the Financial Services Complaints Limited at Level 4, Sybase House, 101 Lambton Quay, Wellington 6011, or call 0800 347 257or email complaints@fscl.org.nz.
14.4 Debut is not licensed by a New Zealand regulator to provide the Platform. Debut’s registration on the New Zealand register of financial service providers or membership of the Financial Services Complaints Limited does not mean that Debut is subject to active regulation or oversight by a New Zealand regulator.
15.1 You may terminate your Account with immediate effect, at any time, by giving notice to us via the Platform, or via email at contact@makingdebutbank.co.nz. If you terminate your Account, we will arrange for the value of your Account (less any fees and charges owing to us) to be paid to you in NZD. The provisions of clauses 4.7 to 4.10 will apply to any withdrawal payments following termination.
15.2 Without prejudice to any other right or remedy available to us, if we consider that you have breached these Terms or for any other reason we consider appropriate, we may suspend, limit, restrict or terminate your access to the Platform with immediate effect (or any part of it), at any time, by giving written notice to you.
15.3 We may also terminate these Terms and cease to provide the Services and the Platform if we cease to conduct business or undergo an insolvency event, meaning (for example) that we become unable to pay our debts as they fall due, or a statutory demand is served, a liquidator, receiver or manager (or any similar person) is appointed, or any insolvency procedure under the Companies Act 1993 is instituted or occurs.
15.4 In the event of a suspension, limitation or restriction, we will use reasonable endeavours to restore your access to the Platform and Services, including your Account, within 14 days of you demonstrating to us, acting reasonably, that the reason for such suspension, limitation, or restriction no longer exists.
15.5 On suspension, limitation, restriction or termination:
a) we are not obligated to, but may at our discretion, complete any pending or processing transactions;
b) you must pay all outstanding fees and other amounts owing to us;
c) unless we agree otherwise with you in writing, we may sell, deal with, or withdraw money, or Interests in your Account and pay the net proceeds (after deducting outstanding amounts under clause 8) to you. If we end up holding any money that becomes unclaimed money, we may account for that money under the Unclaimed Money Act 1971 or pay the money to the Secretary of the Treasury under the Trusts Act 2019;
d) we will not refund any part of any fees or charges already incurred (including any applicable fees); and
e) you must immediately cease using the Platform and must not attempt to gain further access.
15.6 We do not accept any responsibility for any Loss that you may suffer from our decision to suspend, limit, restrict, or terminate to your Account.
16.1 We may change these Terms, by updating them on the Platform, in whole or in part, at any time, by giving you notice.
16.2 We do not need to give you notice of changes where there is no materially negative impact on you or where there are incidental changes. Unless stated otherwise, such changes take effect immediately.
16.3 By continuing to access and use the Platform, you agree to be bound by the changed Terms.
17.1 Notices and Written Communications: You can notify, contact or email us at contact@makingdebutbank.co.nz. We may provide you with notices, including notices relating to these Terms by way of electronic communications, including by email or other electronic communication on the Platform or through the Services.
17.2 Governing law: These Terms, and any dispute relating to these Terms or the are governed by and must be interpreted in accordance with the laws of New Zealand. Each party submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of New Zealand in relation to any dispute connected with these Terms or the Platform.
17.3 Waiver: A failure by us to enforce any provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver for such provision. For us to waive a right under these Terms, the waiver must be in writing.
17.4 Assignment: You must not transfer, novate or assign your rights and obligations under these Terms. without our prior written consent (such consent not to unreasonably withheld or delayed). We may transfer any of our rights and obligations under these terms in whole or in part to anyone. We can appoint any person to advise on or perform any of our functions or responsibilities under our terms. We will satisfy ourselves that anyone we delegate any of our functions or responsibilities to is competent to carry these out.
17.5 Severability: If any provision of the Terms is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, that provision must be read down to the extent necessary to preserve its operation. If it cannot be read down it must be severed, and the remaining parts of the Terms will remain in full force and effect.
17.6 Entire agreement: These Terms set out everything agreed by the parties relating to your use of the Platform, and supersede and cancel anything discussed, exchanged or agreed prior to you agreeing to these Terms. You acknowledge that you have not relied on any representation, warranty or agreement relating to the Platform and Services that is not expressly set out in the Terms, and no such representation, warranty or agreement has any effect from the date you agreed to these Terms.
18.1 In these Terms:
Account means your account registered with us in order to use the Platform.
AML/CFT means requirements under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 and associated regulations.
Business Day means any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday observed in Auckland, New Zealand.
FMC Act means the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.
Intellectual Property Rights means patents, trade marks, service marks, trade names, registered and unregistered designs, trade or business names, copyright (including rights in code and software), database rights, rights in confidential information, our brand, goodwill and any other intellectual property rights whatsoever, irrespective of whether such intellectual property rights have been registered or not, which may subsist in any part of the world.
Interest means your beneficial interest in a Transaction.
Loss includes loss of profits, savings, revenue or data, and any other claim, damage, loss, liability and cost, including legal costs on a solicitor and own client basis.
Personal Information means information about an identifiable, living person.
Platform means the website https://www.makingdebutbank.co.nz, Debut mobile applications, and any other website operated and maintained by us for the Services and includes any software or web application we make available to you to enable you to access the Services using mobile devices.
Privacy Policy means the policy designated as such by Debut from time to time and available on the Platform.
Services means the performance by us and the Trustee of activities in relation to the Platform and any other activities for which we or the Trustee may need to interact with you.
Terms means these terms and conditions titled Debut Terms and Conditions.
Third Party Content means any content provided by a third party (and not by Debut).
Third Party Platform means any other application, platform or website other than the Platform.
Trustee means initially DEBUT NOMINEE LIMITED and includes any other person appointed by us to act as a trustee of your money, or Interests from time to time.
Underlying System means any network, system, software, data or material that underlies or is connected to the Platform.18.2 Unless the context requires otherwise, in these Terms:a) capitalised terms have the meaning given to them in clause 18.1 or otherwise defined in these Terms;b) you or your means the person(s) (and any persons who may act on their behalf) who accesses the Platform and to whom we provide the Services as notified to us when an application is made; c) we, us or our means Debut Limited (Debut) and includes any of our associated companies who may provide services via the Platform;d) the singular includes the plural and vice versa;e) including and similar words do not imply any limit;f) references to dollar signs ($) or currency (NZD) are to New Zealand currency;g) a reference to a "person" includes:(i) an individual, body corporate, association of persons (whether corporate or not), trust, state, agency of state and any other entity (in each case, whether or not having separate legal personality); and(ii) that person’s successors, permitted assigns, executors and administrators (as applicable); and h) a reference to any legislation or rule includes any statutory regulations, rules, orders, or instruments made or issued pursuant to that legislation or rule and any amendment to, or re-enactment or replacement of, that legislation or rule.h) a reference to any legislation or rule includes any statutory regulations, rules, orders, or instruments made or issued pursuant to that legislation or rule and any amendment to, or re-enactment or replacement of, that legislation or rule.