Investing in the country's only peer-to-peer lending platform and providing funding through it should win it customers it couldn't otherwise reach, Heartland New Zealand says.
Heartland bought 10 percent of Harmoney, whose online lending platform operates much like a dating service, matching lenders to borrowers.
Peer-to-peer lending is one of the fastest growing forms of lending globally and Harmoney estimates it is tripling in size each year.
The registered bank has not said how much it is paying for the stake.
Heartland chief executive Jeff Greenslade said it would give the company participation in a "new and exciting channel."
"We think it will give us coverage to customers we would not ordinarily reach."
