Transaction Accounts

The bank’s main transaction account is known as its Westpac Choice bank account.  It has an account fee of $5 per month, which is waived if you deposit at least $2,000 per month.  There are also waivers for customers under the age of 30, full-time tertiary students, Australian concession card holders and pensioners, and new migrants (for the first 12 months).  It offers cardless cash withdrawals with a linked credit or debit Mastercard (limited to three withdrawals per day), a $500 daily withdrawal limit and a $1,000 weekly withdrawal limit from Westpac branded ATMs.  Apple Pay is also available, as well as an online and mobile app which works on an iPhone with IOS 8.2 or above.

Savings Accounts

There are two savings accounts available: a Westpac Life account and a Westpac eSaver account.  The Westpac Life account offers no monthly fees, a base interest rate of 0.15% p.a. and a bonus rate of 0.10% p.a. each month your balance remains above $0 and your balance increases from the previous month.

A Westpac eSaver account offers a standard 0.05% p.a. interest rate, and an introductory offer of a bonus 0.2% p.a. for the first five months of opening a new eSaver account.  Both these savings accounts have no account-keeping fees and access to the account-splitting feature called Savings Goals.  This feature allows you to have up to six savings goals in sub-accounts and name and view each sub-account separately.  A progress tracker lets you see at a glance how you’re progressing towards your savings goals.

Children

The equivalent savings account for children and teens is called a Bump savings account, which a young person can hold up to the age of 17.  For babies and children aged up to 11 years old, it’s mandatory to have a joint account with a parent or guardian, which has a built-in parental control function.  Young people aged 12 to 17 can open a Bump account on their own, with the option of a joint account or parental control if requested.  The base rate is 0.25% p.a. with a bonus of 0.20% p.a. available if a deposit is made into the account each month and the balance of the account is higher on the last day of the month compared to the previous month (and the account has a positive balance throughout the month).

Pensioners

Westpac’s 55+ and Retired account offers a combined transaction and savings account, offering zero account-keeping fees and a tiered rate of interest.  The interest rate is 0.05% p.a. for balances up to $49,999, 0.10% p.a. for balances over $50,000 and up to $250,000 and 0.25% p.a. on the balance over $250,001.  This account offers access to your funds using online, mobile and telephone banking, a linked debit card or credit Mastercard, Bank@Post (allowing you to withdraw and deposit money at any Australian Post outlet) and free access to any of 50,000 ATMs around the world through the Global ATM Alliance.

Term deposits

As would be expected from one of Australia’s big four banks, a variety of term deposits are offered ranging from one month to five years.  Westpac is currently (as of April 2022) offering a special interest rate of 0.30% p.a. for a five-month term deposit for a minimum of $5,000 up to $2 million.  Other standard term deposit interest rates are 0.07% p.a. for three months, 0.15% p.a. for six months, 0.20% p.a. for nine months and 0.25% p.a. for 12 months. You have the option of having your interest paid monthly, yearly or at the maturity of your term deposit.