Privacy Collection Notice Online ID Verification

1. Who we are

Bankwest is a division of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

This Privacy Notice describes how your personal information is collected for online ID verification by Bankwest.

In this Privacy Collection Notice, 'we', 'us' or 'our' refers to Bankwest.

2. What information we collect

We collect the following types of personal information as part of our online ID verification process:

Your full name, mobile number, email address, home address, date of birth and employment category;
Scan(s) of your identity documents (e.g. a driver’s licence, passport, or Medicare card);
Extracts of key information from your identity documents (e.g. issuing state and licence numbers of driver’s licence, or issuing state and passport number of Australian and international passports; and
A ‘selfie’ photo (that is converted and held as a biometric template). We will ask for your consent prior to collection of your ‘selfie.'

We generally collect this information from you directly. Please note that providing false or misleading information about your identity is an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).

3. Why we collect your information to verify your identity

We collect your information to verify your identity:

To meet our ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements under Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), and other anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism funding, regulations, or other instruments;
To more effectively identify, mitigate and manage financial crime and fraud risks through knowing who uses our products and services; and
To provide you with our financial products and services.

4. How we use your information and who we may share it with

We will disclose your personal information to credit reporting bodies, Commonwealth and state government departments and other verification partners (our identity service providers) who match information with their records and/or information held by the issuer or official record holder (which include fraud watch lists) by accessing third party databases.

Our identity service providers will assess and advise us whether all or some of the information you provided match their records and/or information held by the issuer or official record holder for that identity document.

We will advise you if we are unable to verify your identity online and what other steps you may be able to take to complete the identification process (e.g. visit a participating Australia Post participating outlet).

Below is further information on the types of organisations we may disclose your identity information to:

(a) Checking your personal details with Credit Reporting Bodies

We may disclose your name, address, and date of birth to selected credit reporting bodies for the purposes of having the credit reporting body assess whether your information matches (in whole or in part) the information the credit reporting body holds on record.

Please be aware, if you apply for credit, the Group will advise you separately if it checks your creditworthiness against information held by any credit reporting body.

(b) Other organisations used to help conduct identity verification

We may also provide your identity information to:

Commonwealth and state government departments (including by accessing and using systems which match your identity information against information held by the document issuer or official record holder using third party systems).

If you would like further information about the operation and management of these systems, you can visit the IDMatch website at https://www.idmatch.gov.au/.
Verification partners (such as Equifax) who coordinate the electronic identification process for us, including by accessing and using (on our behalf) systems which match your identity information against information held by the document issuer or official record holder or by performing additional matches against other public or proprietary databases.

The verification partners may record, use, and disclose your information in accordance with their own privacy policies and legal obligations. Some of these verification partners operate outside of Australia. As a result, we may send your identity information overseas.

(c) Biometric checks

We also conduct biometric checks based on a photograph of your face (a ‘selfie’). We will separately ask for your consent to collect your ‘selfie.'

We will share your photograph with our identity service providers for the purpose of performing the relevant identity check.

5. Identification methods

If you choose not to consent to your information being checked with the document issuer or official record holder via third party systems or a credit reporting body, then we may not be able to verify your identity and provide you with our services.

If you prefer not to proceed with online identify verification, you can choose to complete the identification process at a participating Australia Post outlet. This may still involve your information being checked with a credit reporting body and with the document issuer or official record holder via third party systems.

6. Our Privacy Statement

Our Privacy Statement is available on our website at bankwest.com.au or upon request from us and should be read in conjunction with this privacy collection notice. It contains further details about our information collection and handling practices including information about:

other ways we may collect, use, or exchange your information;
how you may exercise your rights to access and seek correction of your information;
how to make a complaint about a breach of your privacy rights or about the way we handle your identity information; and
our complaint handling procedures.

7. How to contact us

For privacy related enquiries or complaints, please contact us by:

Email:
BankwestRRT@bankwest.com.au;

Phone:
1800 650 111 anytime
13 17 19, +61 8 9449 2840 from overseas

Writing to us:
Manager, Bankwest Customer Care
GPO Box E237
Perth, WA 6001

Access for hearing or speech impaired customers

Message us in the Bankwest app or use the National Relay Service to contact us:

Step 1 - Contact us through your preferred NRS call channel detailed on NRS call numbers and links.
Step 2 - Provide the NRS with our phone number 13 17 19

Available 8am - 5pm AWST Monday to Friday, except WA and national public holidays.

Online

In the Bankwest App, just tap on the ‘Profile’ icon on the top left-hand corner, select ‘Support’ then ‘Message us’ to start a secure conversation.

Things you should know

Notice updated: 11 April 2025