Incorporating a building society

You may apply to incorporate as a building society if your organisation has:

• a membership of at least 20 people, and 
• rules that comply with section 17 of the Act.

When you apply, you must show that:

1. The society has a director who either:
   1. lives in New Zealand, or
   2. lives in a country, state or territory outside New Zealand, and is a director or officer of a body corporate incorporated in that country, state or territory.
2. The first 20 individuals who became members of the society are resident in New Zealand.
3. The society’s principal place of business is in New Zealand.

If, after registration as a building society, your society is not also a registered bank, it must: 

• carry on the business of borrowing and lending at all times, and
• have an open non-bank deposit taker regulated offer of debt securities (within 12 months of its registration).

The information you need to provide

Complete and attach:

• A signed application for certificate of incorporation. 
  Refer to Form 1 in the Building Societies Regulations 1989 for the format of your application.
• Complete and attach a rules check sheet for registering a complete set of rules.
  Refer to Form 3 in the Building Societies Regulations 1989 for the rules checklist to use.

File formats for uploading documents

Any documents you upload must be:

• clear and easily read
• saved in PDF format, and
• no larger than 20MB.

Paying the registration fees

When you apply, you must pay an incorporation fee of $245.13 (plus GST). This fee includes both an FMA levy and an XRB levy.

We offer two payment options for paying fees — credit or debit card, and direct debit. To pay by direct debit you will need to set up the direct debit facility several days before you apply to register your building society.

How to apply online

You will need:

• a RealMe® login
• card details or a direct debit to pay the fees.

If it is your first time registering a building society with us, or updating details for another building society, you will be prompted for information to set up an online account with us.

For help, check our guides

Step by step

1. Select the option below ‘Apply to register your building society’
2. Log in using your RealMe login.
3. Enter the building society’s name.
4. Upload the documents, including your:
   • Written and signed application (Registration form), and
   • Rules documents (upload the rules check sheet and the rules themselves). 
5. Submit your application and pay the fees.
6. Wait for the payment confirmation before closing the window.
   Find out what payment options are available. 

Register a new society

We will send you an email confirming that your application has been submitted. We will then review your application and contact you if we have any questions or need any further information.

If we accept your application, we will email you to confirm that your building society has been registered. If we reject your application, we will email you and outline the reasons why.

You can check the status of your application by logging into the Building Societies Register. 

Choose the ‘Filing Services’ option to view any applications that are ‘In Progress’. If your application status shows as ‘Draft’ you can edit or discard it by choosing the drop-down arrow alongside the filing service.

Check the status of an update

Last updated September 2025