How we get paid
Canstar is committed to offering consumers a service, at no charge, that is designed to help you navigate the world of finance and find the right products for you. At Canstar we pride ourselves on being open with you about how we run our business, and in that spirit we are open about how we make money.
The revenue we generate helps us invest back into our business to ensure we have the staff, resources and technology needed to support the increasing numbers of consumers visiting our site.
There are four major ways we get paid.
- Lead referrals
You will see we provide links to third party websites on some sections of our website. We offer you the choice to either narrow your search to see results that feature these links, or to see all products we compare. Consumers can choose to move from the research to the purchasing phase by clicking on these links (when available) should they wish to get more information or apply for a product that interests them. We may receive a commission or fee when this happens. Commissions and fees may vary between product providers and are individually negotiated.
This won’t impact the articles crafted by our team of journalists, and it also has no bearing on the results of our Star Ratings, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research.
- Advertising
We feature some paid advertising, the most common being Sponsored or Promoted products. You can find these in our comparison tables, our articles, email newsletters and across popular pages of the site. Where you see a Sponsored or Promoted product in or near our comparison tables, they will be clearly labelled and may be shown in a fixed position, regardless of the product’s rating, price or other features.
The fees paid for Sponsored or Promoted products can be higher than the lead referral fees described above. We are discerning about the brands we partner with, and are also careful to present advertising that is clearly labelled and highly relevant to our customers.
- Database subscriptions
Many financial institutions in New Zealand subscribe to our databases to access the extensive product information we gather to help automate and streamline their benchmarking and competitor analysis efforts. As part of their subscription, each provider’s product data is analysed in our research and ratings, as well as being displayed in our comparison tables. Institutions are also able to subscribe to use our custom audiences. This data is aggregated, anonymous and individuals are not identified. Canstar will never sell a consumer’s personally identifiable information.
- Ratings and Award licenses
In some cases, 5-Star Ratings and Award winners choose to pay to show our Rating or Award logos in their marketing materials to promote their achievement to the public.
Canstar’s research team determines the winners of our Ratings and Award programs without any commercial influence. This is what our customers expect and deserve. For more information see how we avoid conflicts of interests.
Information updated as at 10 November 2020.