Bankwest
Verified1,167 reviews
AI reviews summary
Pros
Cons
Verdict
Overall sentiment toward Bankwest is predominantly negative, driven largely by frustrations with customer service accessibility following the transition to digital-only operations. While a few customers praise the mobile app and efficient dispute handling, many highlight prolonged phone wait times, difficulties with identity verification, and the absence of physical branches as major drawbacks.
I was applying for a credit card on the 23/10/2026 and only got to the proof of identity when things went wrong. My surname has a Mc and because i wrote it like that and my licence has MC on it i failed. I then was told I had to go to the Post Office to again be identified. This was also done on the 23/10. I have phoned on numerous occasions to… Read more
find out why the process has been stalled. The last call was 2hrs 10mins and i was again promised a callback, 2nd time and I am still waiting 4 days later. Absolutely shocking customer service and their processes for applications are hopeless. See less
I had previously been with Bankwest many years ago for a home loan and they were OK but at times had become frustrating and when I was discharging the loan they made it EXTREMELY difficult. This was quite a few years ago, so when my Financial Advisor suggested them again for my investment property loan when I was refinancing, I gave them the… Read more
benefit of the doubt and went back to them. OMG they have become worst!!! I have complained various times but it falls on deaf ears. When having an investment property loan it is often suggested to do interest only. but with BankWest "interest only" means "wait till we tell you what your repayments will be on the day" (if they feel like it). Because they deduct it from an other bank account on certain date each month, and as "interest only" may depend on the month, you have to wait until the day it is due before they can tell me how much they are taking out. and if its on a weekend you have to wait until Monday to find out and then quickly transfer it before they try and take it out, otherwise you get a text to say "hey we tried to deduct your repayment today and it wasnt there!" So you have to guess and hope for the best you've put enough into your account, doesnt matter that you have other bills you have to budget for!! I hate owing money and always try to pay my bills on time (if not before) and hate being late to ensure I avoid fees etc But BankWest make you feel like your in the wrong and its up to you to wait on them to be bothered to give you the correct amount to be sure you aren't late on your repayments. When you complain about it, you are just told "Sorry that's just the way the system works, maybe just do an estimate and add an extra $100 or so just in case." Sorry BankWest but not all of us have an extra $100 or so lying around (we have other bills to pay) just to wait on you to calculate the correct amounts. Every other bank can do it, why not You??!! VERY FRUSTRATING. ,
Hi Kimmi, we’re sorry to hear how frustrating this has… Read more
New customer, transferred almost $20,000 last week to take advantage of the 4-month introductory interest rate. I find the app is incredibly unfriendly and clunky to use. I contacted the chat bot earlier today to ask a question. It replied, but did not return to answer another query wanted to ask. I called the help number and after 15 minutes I… Read more
gave up. Rude. My time is important too! I still have my ING account and will be returning my funds and business there once the 4 months has expired. Do better, BankWest!
Hi Deb, we’re really sorry you’ve had such a frustrating… Read more
Reviews with attachments
Disgraceful customer experience. Terrible communication. Zero explanations. As an existing customer with a substantial deposit, I was unable to get approval for credit card. Not sure what their target market is. I am an; - Existing customer with a decent account balance - Self funded retiree with decent Super balance - No debts - Own 2… Read more
properties Explained that I just needed a new credit card to replace a HSBC platinum card as HSBC is pulling out of AU retail market. I provided all the information required and explained my reasoning for a credit card from my chosen savings bank. Useless responses from customer service staff [Name Removed] and [Name Removed] with just an email saying Not Approved. Tried to have a common sense discussion with the banks GM Customer Growth, [Name Removed] and got no response or even acknowledgment of my request or concern. I would have thought that a GM for Customer Growth would also have a KPI for customer retention. Clearly not. I have now moved my deposit to Macquarie bank. CBA clearly skipped the due diligence on the customer service and retention when they purchased Bankwest. Stear clear!
I have sent this exact trust pilot review to Bankwest complaints with relevant names of the Genetal Manger etc (trust pilot had deleted them) I had also copied her in on it. See attached the response I received.
Six figures Income, no other loan. Low expenses and credit card not approved. No explanation why not.
WOW! WOW! JUST WOW!!! This bank is totally bonkers. My husband has just applied for a travel credit card and was declined because in their opinion “my husbands personal financial situation does not meet their lending criteria and they believe he has poor stability of employment and they worry for his ability to meet repayments on any money they… Read more
lend him!!! We own three properties outright, my husband has been a teacher in a VERY SECURE position for over 20 years at the same college with no plans of leaving any time soon, on a very secure six figure salary and we owe not one red cent to anyone. We have NO idea what more they could possibly want from him, just to get a mere $6000 credit card for 3 weeks of overseas travelling. They even suggested he ‘apply again if his financial situation should change’ !! How much better do they want his financial situation to be??? How Pathetic can a BANKING company be, to reject someone in such an EXTREMELY POSITIVE financial status. Who the hell is running these companies? They should all be sacked. APPARENTLY YOU SHOULD NOT BOTHER TO APPLY FOR A CREDIT CARD FROM THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU ARE JEFF BEZOS OR ELON MUSK!!
Been with bank west for around 10 years. Always great customer service. Always positive personal vibes. Since being taken over by com bank it's been an absolute crap show. As soon I can I will be moving banks. The app is an absolute joke seems the Dev team must have been on acid when the thought these changes up. Even my daughter asked me what was… Read more
going on and she notices nothing. Shame on you com bank for wasting a good thing bring another bank down with you. Pic attached.
Long time customer that is leaving bankwest – After being with the bank for decades, and seeing them shut ALL branches (?) I've recently been stopped from using online banking. After a few attempts at reaching them online (they offer to chat online through text, but never respond) and on the phone (which used to take 5 minutes for them to respond and now it takes hours of listening to the… Read more
same ad on repeat on their phone waiting line), I got told that they will remove the stop they put on my account (for no reason), but only for five days. I have to call again, to another department, myself, to fix this. After this call, I still couldn't use my accounts, even for moving money between different accounts. Bankwest is gone. Avoid at all costs. As soon as I can get a hold of my accounts I'm shifting to another bank.
Latest follow-ups
11mths later - changed star rating from 1 to 4 for reasons below. Original 1 star rating because: Reached out to BankWest Chat to check why Tax was… Read more · 2
taken from my interest, when they had my TFN. The operator checked and said that they had my TFN and the tax appeared to be a mistake. I was told to ring BankWest to get this fixed. I have now been on hold (listening to their ad on repeat) for over an hour. On seeing the reviews, this seems to be the norm now. I guess they just hope I'll just hang up like the others. However, how am I going to get my TFN fixed? This is ridiculous. I'll stay on hold for as long as I can and update here if it goes much longer.
Follow-up · The communication was clear during the fix. The CSO said I was eligible for a refund and it subsequently appeared on my account. No new account issues since.
Follow-up · Changed star rating from 1 to 4 as Refund showed up straight away. I still use this bank as it has a good credit card system for online shopping - where you can use a different credit card number each time. Online chat was easy, but long wait for telephoning the bank.
Fact. I am physically revolted by this bank of whom I have dealt with for over 50 YEARS. The Customer Service of Bankwest before the Commonwealth… Read more
Bank purchased it, was amazing, second to no one. Yet from there it fell, from Awesome to average, Always reducing staffing levels, empty teller windows, long ques, smaller branches. Now since being an only online service, it's as if they feel no need to justify such abysmal customer service. Everybody I spoke with prior to the Bankwest sale said the same thing, "The Commonwealth Bank will screw us over." AND... hey presto they have. Profit before people. The commonwealth Bank promised never to shut down Bankwest so they just closed all the branches and went online only instead telling business customers to go to Commonwealth.. .
Follow-up · I was asked to do this follow up. Maybe this is something the bank and the Government that allowed this to happen should have done before betraying so many customers... My parents have been with this bank for over 70 years and they struggle with the system in place which upsets and confuses them with every use.
Follow-up · It was bought and run by the Commonwealth Bank who then closed all of it's branches even though profitable... It has demonstrated its level of dismissal and relevence for Bankwest customers uncaring exvept to it's shareholders dividends. F÷*k! them!.
Great interest rates, but that's it! Terrible app and online banking. Hopeless customer service - can never answer your query. Useless SMS security only, which is banned in many advanced countries, doesn't work in black spots (many in backward… Read more
Australia) or overseas. Very hard to do payments and forget setting up a recurring payment if the first day isn't today. VERY AMATEUR BANK.
Follow-up · The app is only useful for checking account balances. The transaction listing reached after scrolling through far too much information on interest rates does not even show a running balance next to transactions. Setting up payments is difficult and you cannot save a proper receipt, just a screenshot. Security is terrible, with SMS verification only - completely useless when overseas or in a mobile blackspot.
Positive reviews
I applied to Bankwest because of their introductory savings rate (5.75%!!) on their easy saver account, and subsequently opened both that and an easy transaction account both of which are proceeding very well. The app is a bit jarring for newbies, but a bit of fiddling around and I got my head around it soon enough. I also applied then for a… Read more
Qantas platinum credit card, and was approved with great communication through the whole (Short) process. No complaints.
Likewise, the support staff - with whom I have communicated with via the app - have always been swift, kind and pleasent in my interactions asking them my silly questions. I cannot recommend them more from my own perspective.
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We bought a $595 flight with a well-known international Asian airline, who promptly cancelled it. Not ideal, but not exactly unexpected in this travel climate, and not the first time this particular airline has cancelled on us. To their credit, they… Read more
did the right thing and offered us a choice — a new flight the next day (which didn't suit our plans), or a full refund. We took the refund. They quoted 30 days to process it, which already wasn't great, since we now needed to book a replacement flight $400 more expensive than the original.
Fast forward 37 days. No refund, no response from the airline's customer service, and nothing on the horizon. So I contacted Bankwest, who advised me to lodge a transaction dispute, since I'd paid for a service I never received.
It took them two days to review the situation and push through a chargeback, crediting the full $595 back into my account. From a month of uncertainty and frustration to sorted, just like that.
Naturally, if the airline eventually does refund us, Bankwest can claw their money back — and I'll send it without hesitation, given they did right by me when it counted.
Follow-up · How long did it take? For the charge-back credit, the money was literally instantly showing as pending, and arrived in just a few days (normal transaction speeds) Was disputing easy? Very easy! I downloaded a form which the Bankwest representative directed me to in the message chat. Filled in the details of the dispute and everything was smooth… Read more
Intended to open a new saving account with bankwest but was unable to verify my ID through the app and verification in person at the Australian Post twice. Received an email stated that my Australian Post verification was failed and asked me to call… Read more
customer service for assistance. I waited for 45 minutes to get connected to a customer service, was told the reason for the failed verification was because the scanned image of my ID was not clear and asked me to resubmit my verification form at Australian Post. I went to Australian Post to see the same person who did the verification me, she was surprised for the reason of failed verification. She did the verification process again and even show me the scanned ID to make sure it is clear before the submission. However, I received a failed verification notification from Bankwest again. I rang Bankwest customer service again but decided to give up after 1 hour of waiting.
Follow-up · After I lodge a complaint via "Feedback" tab, my issues have been resolved.
Negative reviews
I have home loan with this bank .but when ever I chat with them they don't help so I will not recommend for any to go this bank they are useless bank in Australia
Hi Bharat, sorry to hear we haven’t been able to help… Read more
1 Hr and 39 minutes on hold to change my daily paymement limit. Appalling service and they act like they are doing you a favor. Compliants staff are a waste of time and no help at all!
I would not give a rating to his bank as it does not deserve it. This bank has to be the pits of all banks. Please, I'm begging prospective new customers, DO NOT JOIN. They have the most untrained arrogant customer service reps, wait times are intolleable, no braches etc. The amount of times I have had to escalate to the banking ombudsman just to… Read more
get something rectified about my account. Constant internal transfers, nobody has the correct info, apps do not fix issues etc. One headache after another, totally frustrating dealing with them. GIVE THEM A VERY WIDE BERTH.
Recent reviews
Had opted for their Creditcard which offered 24month at 0% on balance transfer. Called their representative to set up a direct debit to make my monthly Bankwest Credit card payment from my Savings account, to only have bankwest drawout the full 24month payment taken out through Direct Debit, cos the guy who set up my direct debit had listed… Read more
payement of my outstanding amount (which is the full 24months installment reflected in my payment). If left unresolved further, i will have ended up paying them their inital 3% balance transfer fee along with the annual account fee for nothing!
Terrible service. Long wait times and when you finally do talk to someone, staff tell you the wrong information, so that when you call the next time everything is completely WRONG. Back to square one. Bank with someone else because it's just not worth the hassle.
I joined Bankwest in July 2026, drawn by their competitive 5.75% introductory savings rate. After depositing a significant sum of around $200,000, I attempted to transfer a portion back to my established external hub accounts. This triggered an incredibly frustrating loop of blocked and delayed transactions. Bankwest employs a strict security… Read more
protocol where Faster Payments over $200 to a new payee may be subject to a four-hour hold, and this hold can continue to apply to subsequent payments to that same payee for up to 48 hours. While I understand the need for robust fraud prevention, the frontline chat staff seemed completely unaware of these specific rules. Because they could not clearly explain the mechanics of the delay, my wife and I experienced significant anguish, fearing our funds were effectively stuck. Furthermore, the in-app chat facility operates with a noticeable time delay—feeling more like sending emails back and forth rather than a live conversation—which heavily exacerbated the stress of the situation. On a positive note, the Bankwest Customer Care and Complaints team eventually provided excellent, thorough service. The case managers researched the technical reasons behind the delays and clearly explained the 48-hour security hold to us. Bankwest also provided a $300 goodwill gesture to acknowledge the frustration caused. However, they declined my request to reset the four-month introductory interest period, which I felt was a missed opportunity to fully make amends for their systemic communication failures. Overall, Bankwest's security systems are highly rigorous, but their frontline communication and chat infrastructure need serious improvement. Note: In the interest of accuracy and balance this review was submitted to Bankwest for comment before publication. No comments were received.
Worst bank on the Planet. I joined just as the Commonwealth Bank took over. After a while they advised everyone to move their accounts because they were getting rid of bankwest or some other problem. They got the bulk of the customers to move. That was a deliberate ploy. I thought their services were unacceptable so I tried to my close my… Read more
account but could not find a way to do it. Communication was practically impossible unless you had a whole day to spare. I took all my money out and left it at that.
Three years later, I’m trying to close my account again. In a chat they said, the best they could do is to hibernate my PAN number. I told them it wasn’t good enough. I want it closed permanently
Apparently I can close my account through their app but not through my computers. They didn’t mention that. I installed their pathetic app but couldn’t log in.
This time I rang them. They hibernated my PAN without me agreeing to it. So is my account really closed? I don’t trust them. Not for a second. All I wanted is to have my account Permanently closed. I don’t have any evidence of that whatsoever. It seems they don’t want to do it. Nowhere near enough bank! Not even close.
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I paid $320 annual fee to join Qantas World credit card and 10 months later they just change the terms of the card so i don't even get 12 months of what i paid for. The new terms offer about 1/3 of the points and I'm meant to just accept that? Isn't that illegal to sell something and not provide what was sold?
Horrible bank experience no empathy or common sense, applied for a CC account incorrectly and was approved, I never accepted the approved offer and declined the cc offer. Was told to apply for the cc I wanted and then they stated the intro offer isn’t applied as the offer I never accepted meant I had a CC account with them… declined the 2nd offer a second time and closed account.
Long term customer here, it's really hard to communicate with this mob now that they have closed their branches, online waits excessive, no empathy when you get there, don't even try to phone unless you have a good battery as it will take forever, customer communications terrible1/5. On a positive note, their security as top notch 5/5. Show details
I called for getting help because of a small set up that the app's functionality is severely lacking. But the phone service is very bad. I can feel their Ignoring and neglecting clearly. It's like the whole company is about to fall apart. I am thinking to transfer the loan to other banks.
App not user friendly as tried to create pin for additional card. Told email or text sent to additional card holder and nothing sent. Tried to call no answer. Had to cancel cards before even using as very poor customer service. Show details
Don't use this bank, system simply does not work. Hard to believe in 2026 any company could be so incompetent. Fortunately I did not deposit any money. From m my brief experience of how nothing works, personally would not be confident do any banking with them at all.
Absolutely bast#rds to deal with over twenty years of my mortgage repayments Someone just rang me from Bankwest as my repayment was 4 days late for 31 dollars Told me they will be reporting it to credit rating Asked me if I need assistance lol To pay $31
My Macquarie Working Acct has a current 2:75% interest, and my Macquarie Savings Account has interest rate of 5%. My Bankwest working Acct has an interest rate of 0.05%!!! Go figure.
Hi Daffy, it sounds like getting this application sorted… Read more