Privacy Statement

We collect your personal information directly from you most of the time, however on occasion, we may also collect information about you from other people and organisations.

We collect personal information when you:

• enquire, apply for, or use our products or services
• contact us to make an enquiry or give us feedback
• visit our website or use our digital services
• participate in other activities we offer, such as competitions or surveys
• talk to us or do business with us.

While we are required to collect some types of personal information to meet our legal obligations, we do attempt to keep our collection of your personal information to what is necessary to offer you the products and services you require. Depending on those products and services, or your interactions with us, we may collect the following types of personal information:

Personal and contact details

This may include your name, address, email address, phone number, and date of birth.

Australian Government related identifiers and identity documents

These may include your:

• Tax File Number and country of tax residency
• Medicare card, Australian passport, driver’s licence, or pension card details
• Security holder Reference Number (SRN) or Holder Identification Number (HIN)
  
• citizenship, birth, death, and marriage certificates (for example, to verify your identity).

Foreign government identifiers and identity documents

This may include foreign government identity documents and identifiers such as:

• Tax identification number and country of tax residency
• foreign passport and driver’s licence (for example, to verify your identity at the time you request a product or service).

Financial information

This may include:

• details of your employment, income, assets, financial liabilities
• copies of bank statements and credit card statements from other financial institutions
• information from third parties about your credit history and insurance claims.

Credit information

See Credit Reporting (Your credit information, Section 4) for the types of credit information that we collect.

Transaction information

This includes information about transactions that you have made using our products and services. For example, your credit card transactions, ATM (Automatic Teller Machine) withdrawals, or payee details.

Socio-demographic information

This may include your marital status, age, gender, number of dependents, occupation, and nationality, for example when you apply for a home loan.

Interaction information

This includes details of your interactions with us, such as when you call us, use our online services (such as Bankwest Online Banking and the App), make an enquiry, provide feedback, or make a complaint.

Digital information

We collect information from you electronically when you use our online services (such as Bankwest Online Banking and the App). This includes information such as:

• location information (if enabled on your device)
• IP address
• information about the electronic devices (computers, mobile phones or tablets) you use to access our platforms and how you use them, including details relating to your devices, their operating systems, browsers, other installed applications and settings details of the Wi-Fi network or mobile network used by your device
• type of authentication used (for example touch ID or face ID).

Find out more about the types of cookies we use and why, see section 11 of Website Terms of Use.

Behavioural information

This includes information that we generate about how you use our products and services. For example, if you use our banking services, we may generate information about your spending patterns so we can help you manage your money.

Call recordings

On occasion, we monitor and record our calls with you. We will let you know if we are doing this.

Camera surveillance

For the safety of our staff and customers, we use camera surveillance, such as CCTV, to monitor Bankwest premises.

Sensitive Information

On occasion, we collect and handle sensitive information. This may include:

• health information (where this is relevant to an insurance policy, claim or if you’re in financial difficulty and ask for hardship relief due to illness)
• race or ethnicity (for example we may ask you what language you speak if you request a translator to communicate with us)
• criminal history or political affiliation, where it is relevant for our regulatory and or legal obligations
• biometric information (such as fingerprints or face), where this information is collected and used for the purpose of automated biometric verification or biometric identification.

Information about your personal circumstances

On occasion, we may ask you to provide information about your personal circumstances so we can support you during any financial difficulties. This may include:

• information about significant life events (such as a relationship breakdown or a death in the family)
• information about family and domestic violence
• where you have been impacted by an emergency event or natural disaster
• any unexpected changes to your financial situation (such as losing a job or incarceration)
• details of injury, illness, gambling, or addiction.

Publicly available information

On occasion, we may collect and handle information that is in the public domain, such as from:

• online forums, websites, Facebook, X, YouTube, or other social media (for example, if you use social media to make a complaint)
• public registers (for example, those kept by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission or Land Registry Services).

See Who do we share your information with? (Collection, use and sharing, Section 2c) for details of third parties we may share information with.

We’re careful about how we use your information to deliver our products and services. We also use your information for other reasons, such as to better understand you, your needs, and to let you know about other products and services you might be interested in.

Here is a list of the ways we may use your personal information.

Serving you as a customer

We use your information to deliver our products and services including to:

• assess and process your applications for products and services
• administer and manage existing products or services you have with us
• manage our relationship with you or your business
• improve our service to you and your experience with us
• communicate with you or your representatives about our products and services
• let you know about other products and services that may be of interest to you.

Improving our business

We use your information to improve the products and services we provide through activities such as:

• reviewing customer feedback and assessing how you use our products and services
• testing and validating the effectiveness of products, services, and system enhancements
• monitoring and reviewing call recordings, online chats and other business activity for quality assurance, training, and compliance purposes.
  

Managing our operations

We use your information to manage our operations including to:

• deliver our products and services
• make and manage customer payments and transactions
• manage fees, charges, and interest due on your products and services
• collect and recover money that is owed to us
• respond to complaints and seek to resolve them.

Managing security, risk, and crime prevention

We use your information to:

• prevent, detect, and investigate suspicious or fraudulent activities
• we may also use payee details collected as part of transactions to further provide additional fraud prevention measures and systems
• monitor our properties, for example using camera surveillance to ensure the safety of our people and customers
• investigate health and safety incidents involving our people and customers
• support the management of our information security and network controls to prevent cyber-attacks, unauthorised access and other criminal or malicious activities.

To comply with our legal obligations

Where required, we use your personal information to comply with the law, including our regulatory obligations, including to:

• confirm your identity
• share relevant information with law enforcement agencies, tax authorities and other regulatory bodies
• screen applications and monitor accounts to identify criminal activity such as fraud, terrorist financing, bribery, corruption, and money laundering
• investigate financial crime.

Managing our business

We use your information to run our business in an efficient and proper way. This includes managing our financial position, business capability and planning, testing systems and processes, as well as managing communications, corporate governance, and audit.

Performing analytics activities

Sometimes we combine information we have about you and our other customers, for example transaction information, with data from other sources, such as third party websites or the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We use this information to:

• help us understand trends in customer behaviour including how products and services are used
• improve the products and services we offer
• improve the quality of our data
• develop products and services that better meet our customers’ needs and behaviours
• understand and manage our risks better.
  

Sales or acquisitions

We may also use your personal information to support any changes to the ownership of products or services or the make-up of the CommBank Group. For example, we may:

• sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business, or our assets, including products or services
• bring other businesses into the CommBank Group
• stop providing a particular product or service.

When we do this, we may share your personal information with other members of the CommBank Group or other parties involved, where appropriate.

Determine your eligibility for credit

See Credit Reporting (Your credit information, Section 4)

We may also collect, use, and share your information for other reasons where the law allows or requires us to.

Direct marketing

From time to time, we may also use your personal information to tell you about products and services we think may be of interest to you, but we will stop if you tell us to do so.

We may contact you by various means, including by mail, telephone, email, SMS, or other electronic means, such as though social media or targeted advertising through the Bankwest website or through our online banking services.

If you do not want to receive direct marketing offers from us, you can opt out by contacting us using the details in We’re here to help Section 6a.

We may share your information with third parties for the reasons mentioned in How do we use your information? (Collection, use and sharing, Section 2b) or where the law otherwise allows or requires us to.

The types of third parties are listed below.

Other members of the CommBank Group

We may share your information between members of the CommBank Group. This helps us offer you a high-quality customer experience. You can read about how CommBank Group members may use your information in How do we use your information? (Collection, use and sharing, Section 2b)

Authorised Third Parties

We may share information with third parties where you have authorised us to do so or where we are legally required. They include:

• third parties that you have authorised to act for you (such as accountants, financial counsellors, legal representatives, agents, mortgage brokers, financial advisors, or a person with Power of Attorney)
• your parent or legal guardian (if you are under 14 years)
• guarantors and other security providers.

Third Parties that can verify your information

This includes organisations that can verify information that you have supplied when applying for a product or service, or making a claim, including:

• your employer, to verify your employment status
• supporting evidence when seeking an exceptional solution due to hardship circumstances
• other banks and financial institutions that you may have products and services with
• commercially available third party databases
• credit reporting bodies and credit providers (See Your credit information, Section 4).

Our Service Partners

We may share your information with our service partners, external service providers and other organisations that help us to supply products and services. These include:

• organisations that we partner with to supply products and services, for example, mortgage insurers, loyalty program partners and product distributors
• external service providers that we engage to do some of our work for us, for example mailing houses, marketing companies, debt recovery agencies, legal service providers and information technology, cloud service providers and market research companies
• people who help us process applications and claims (like assessors and investigators)
• organisations involved in our funding arrangements (like loan purchasers, investors, advisers, researchers, trustees, and rating agencies)
• auditors, insurers, and re-insurers
• organisations that assist us to identify, investigate or prevent fraud or other misconduct
• organisations that provide us with information, including publicly available information, so we can tell you about products and services we think may be of interest and value to you (for example, property insights services). If you do not wish for your information to be used in this way you can tell us by opting out of receiving direct marketing communications (see 2b. Direct Marketing).

Strategic Referral Partners

We may share your information, with external parties with whom Bankwest and CommBank Group have entered into strategic alliance or referral arrangements to enable you to inquire about the services and products they offer.

A product refers to any offering of features and benefits to a customer. This may include products that allow a customer to:

• borrow money (e.g. credit cards, loans)
• save money (e.g. term deposits)
• manage financial risks (e.g. insurance) or
• facilitate payments (e.g. BPay, clearing and settlement facilities).

Other financial services organisations

We may collect and share your information with other banks, third party payment providers, superannuation funds and financial services providers to provide you services, for example to process your transactions, facilitate payment reversals and provide refunds.

Government and law enforcement agencies

We may share your information with regulatory bodies, government agencies and law enforcement bodies to comply with our legislative or regulatory obligations in any of the jurisdictions where Bankwest or the CommBank Group operates.

Sending information overseas

Sometimes, we may send your information overseas, including to:

• CommBank Group members that are located in India and New Zealand
• service providers or third parties who store data or operate outside Australia
• complete a transaction, such as an International Money Transfer
• organisations we partner with to provide products and services
• comply with laws and assist government or law enforcement agencies.

If we do this, we make sure there are appropriate privacy, data handling and security arrangements in place to protect your information.

Our staff are trained in how to keep your information safe and secure. We use secure systems and buildings to hold your information.

We store your hard copy or electronic records in secure buildings and systems or using trusted third parties. We use a range of physical, electronic, and other security measures to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the personal information we hold about you.

We aim to keep personal information only for as long we need it – for example for business or legal reasons. When we no longer need information, we take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.

We collect credit information about you when you apply or use our credit related products or services. We may also collect credit information about you from credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax).

Credit information is personal information that is about credit that has been provided to you or that you have applied for. This includes credit for personal purposes and credit in connection with a business. It can also cover information about you as a guarantor of a loan or as an insured party under a credit related insurance policy.

We collect credit information directly from you or your representative when you apply for a credit related product or service, like a credit card. We also collect credit information about you from third parties, including credit reporting bodies (such as Equifax) or other credit providers (such as another bank).

The types of credit information we collect, and handle are set out below.

Identification information

This includes your name (including any aliases), gender, date of birth, driver’s licence number, current and most recent past addresses, as well as current and most recent past employers.

Consumer credit liability information

This is information about any accounts that you currently have open or may have had in the past. It includes the type of account, the open and/or close date, as well as the credit limit.

Repayment history

This includes a history of your repayments, including whether you have made payments when due, and if not, when overdue payments have been made.

Financial Hardship Information

This includes information about agreed financial hardship arrangements that you may have with us or our credit providers, both temporary and permanent. Financial hardship information will be recorded with the repayment history information.

Default information

Details of any defaults or serious credit infringements.

Public information

Public record information such as:

• court judgments
• directorship and business proprietorship details
• bankruptcy, debt agreement and personal insolvency.

Information about credit worthiness

Information about your credit worthiness such as credit scores, credit risk ratings, summaries, and evaluations.

Why we collect and handle your credit information

When you apply to us for credit or propose to be a guarantor, we need to know if you’re able to meet repayments under your agreement with us. We also want to avoid giving you further credit if this would put you in financial difficulty.

We use credit information to:

• confirm your identity
• assess your credit applications and your ability to manage credit
• manage credit provided to you
• assist you to manage your credit related obligations and to consider any financial hardship requests
• derive scores, ratings, summaries, and evaluations relating to your credit worthiness which are used in our decision-making processes and ongoing reviews
• help us collect overdue payments
• share information with credit reporting bodies, where the law permits us to do so.

How do we hold credit information?

We keep your credit information with your other information. In some cases, we may need to share some of your information with organisations outside Australia (see Collection, use and sharing, Section 2c).

More information

It is important that we hold accurate credit information about you. To access or correct your credit information, please contact us (see We’re here to help, Section 6a).

You can also contact us to make an enquiry or complaint about the collection and handling of your credit information. You can find out more information about credit reporting here

If you apply for credit, or offer to act as a guarantor, we may collect or share your information with a credit reporting body. This information is used to determine your eligibility for credit.

Credit reporting bodies include this information in their reports to help other creditor providers to assess your credit worthiness (such as when you apply for a credit card or a loan).

We can also ask credit reporting bodies to give us your overall credit score and may use credit information from credit reporting bodies together with other information to arrive at our own assessment of your ability to manage credit.

Direct Marketing: Credit providers like us can ask credit reporting bodies to use your credit information to pre-screen you for direct marketing purposes. You can contact the credit reporting bodies if you want to stop your credit information being used for this purpose.

Preventing identity fraud: If you think you have been, or could be, a victim of fraud — for example, if someone else may be using your name to apply for credit — you can ask the credit reporting body not to use or give anyone your credit information.

We collect from, and share information with, the following credit reporting bodies. For more information about how they handle credit reporting information they hold about you, or about direct marketing or identify fraud, you can contact the below.

• Equifax Pty Ltd — https://www.equifax.com.au/personal/
• Experian Australia Credit Services Pty Ltd — https://www.experian.com.au
• illion Australia Pty Ltd — https://www.illion.com.au/

You can contact us and ask to view your information. For more detailed information, we may ask you to fill out a request form. If your information isn’t correct or needs updating, let us know straight away.

How can I access my information?

You can ask us for a copy of your information, like your transaction history, by going online (such as Bankwest Online Banking), or calling us (see We’re here to help, Section 6a). To get a copy of credit information we have about you call us.

If you would like more detailed information, please contact our Customer Engagement Centre (see We’re here to help, Section 6a).

How will we handle your request?

There is no fee to ask for your information, but sometimes we might charge a fee to cover the time we spend gathering the information you want. If there’s a fee, we’ll let you know how much it is likely to be, so you can choose if you want to go ahead.

We try to make your information available within 30 days after you ask us for it.

In some cases, we can refuse access or only give you access to certain information. For example, we might not let you see information that involves other people. If we do this, we will write to you explaining our decision.

Can you correct or update your information?

It’s important that we have your correct details, such as your current home address, email address and phone number. You can check or update your information via your online services (such as Bankwest Online Banking) or by calling us (see We’re here to help, Section 6a).

If you think your personal or credit information is incorrect, contact us to investigate the issue (see We’re here to help, Section 6a).

We’ll try to respond to your request within 30 days. If we can’t, we’ll let you know why it’s taking longer.

If we don’t think the information needs correcting, we’ll write to let you know why. You can ask us to include a statement with the information that says you believe it’s inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, or out of date.

If you need more information, want to access, or update your personal information or if you have a privacy concern – help is just a phone call or a few clicks away.

Customer Engagement Centre

13 17 19 anytime
+61 8 9449 2840 from overseas (international charges apply) anytime
1800 650 111 anytime

Business Support Centre

13 7000 – 6am - 8am AWST Monday to Friday, 6am - 2:30pm AWST on Saturday

Access for hearing or speech impaired customers

TTY users call 13 36 77 then ask for 13 17 19
Voice Relay call 1300 555 727 then ask for 13 17 19
SMS Relay text 0423 677 767 (for more information, visit the National Relay Service)

Online

In the Bankwest App, just tap 'Ask us' in the menu to start a secure conversation.