Sheet FCL · Item 01 of 06The lender
The law says a person must not engage in a credit activity, which includes being the credit provider under a credit contract, without a licence authorising it, unless an exemption applies. A licensed lender’s Australian credit licence number has to appear on its credit guide and on the documents the Credit Code requires, and that number, or the business’s name, ACN or ABN, can be looked up on ASIC’s Professional Registers Search.
General information, not legal or financial advice. This page explains a public register and the rules behind it; it says nothing about any particular lender. ASIC’s professional registers page is the place to check.
A credit licence number is not something a borrower has to ask for. The Act and its regulations put it on paper at several points before a car loan is signed.
| Document | What the law says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The lender’s credit guide | Given as soon as practicable once it is apparent the lender is likely to enter a credit contract with the consumer. It must specify the lender’s name, contact details and licence number, and how to reach its internal dispute resolution and the AFCA scheme. | Act, s 126 |
| Documents the Credit Code requires, such as the contract and the precontractual statement | Whenever a licensee identifies itself in one, it must include its licence number and identify it as its Australian credit licence number. | Act, s 52; Regs, reg 13 |
| Responsible lending documents, such as the written assessment | Documents required to be created or produced under Chapter 3 of the Act are also on the prescribed list. | Regs, reg 13 |
| Printed advertisements for consumer credit | A printed advertisement relating to credit the Code would apply to is on the list too. | Regs, reg 13 |
ASIC publishes a user guide to its Professional Registers Search. The steps below follow it and ASIC’s page about the registers.
ASIC says the search takes an individual or company name, a registration or licence number, an ACN or an ABN. The Act has ASIC give each licence a unique number, which makes the number from the credit guide the most precise search.
The search covers several registers at once, including credit licensees and credit representatives. ASIC notes that a person or organisation may hold more than one registration or licence, so it is worth checking that a result is on the register being looked for.
Most of what the register shows is free, ASIC says: the name, the licence or registration number, the address, the start date, the status, and any conditions on the licence.
Where a licensee has representatives, ASIC’s guide says its entry can be searched for a representative’s name, so a person arranging loans on a licensee’s behalf can be looked up under that licensee.
ASIC processes changes to the registers once a day and shows a timestamp of the last update. An entry can be saved with the “Export to PDF” button.
When finance is arranged at the car yard, the business behind the counter and the business lending the money can be different. In plain terms, the regulations let a seller of goods, such as a car dealer, arrange a loan for a lender without a licence of its own. The conditions: the seller is acting for the credit provider, the credit will wholly or predominantly pay for the seller’s own goods, and the credit provider is a licensee (or a registered person or an exempt special purpose funding entity) and a linked credit provider of the seller. The exemption does not reach goods supplied as a result of unsolicited contact with the consumer.
So the exemption turns on the credit provider named on the contract being one of the kinds the regulation lists. ASIC’s 2026 review of car lending counted loans written through “exempted dealer” channels separately from those through licensed dealers and brokers.
In 2026, in proceedings brought by ASIC, the Federal Court found that two companies connected with a car dealership had provided car loans without a credit licence and charged unlawful and excessive interest. ASIC called it the first civil proceeding it had commenced to address unlicensed credit activities by a car dealership.
Engaging in a credit activity without a licence carries a civil penalty of 5,000 penalty units under the Act, and an offence with a maximum of 2 years’ imprisonment.
A lender’s credit guide has to say how to reach the AFCA scheme, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority. ASIC lists membership of AFCA among the arrangements lenders must have as credit licensees. On its page about loan rejection, Moneysmart cautions about lenders that claim to lend to people with bad credit or low income, which it says may charge high interest and fees, and it says to make sure the lender is a member of AFCA. Membership can be looked up with AFCA’s search for a financial firm, which AFCA says is there to help consumers see whether a particular firm is a member; it adds that membership is not an endorsement of the firm.
ASIC also keeps a list running the other way. Moneysmart’s investor alert list names companies, businesses and websites that may be targeting Australian consumers and do not hold a current Australian financial services licence or Australian credit licence from ASIC. Moneysmart adds: “If you can’t find a name on the list, it doesn’t mean you can trust it.”
A business that copies a real lender’s name is a different problem from one with no licence. Item 4, on scams, covers impersonation.
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02 · What the lender must check