What identification documents do I need?

Our electronic ID check is available when you apply for an account online.
 

Australian driver's licence

You'll need to provide all the information below:

• State of issue
• Licence number
• Expiry date.

Medicare card

You’ll need to provide all the information below:

• Medicare number (10 digit number on top of your card)
• Individual card reference number (this is the 1 digit number to the left of your name)
• Name as it appears on your card
• Card colour
• Card’s valid date.

Passport (all countries)

Foreign Passports must be current.
Australian Passports must be issued by the Commonwealth and not expired more than two years ago. 

You’ll need to provide some or all of the information below:

• Country of issue
• Passport number
• Expiry date
• Place of birth as stated on your passport
• Country of birth
• Family name at birth (Australian passports only)
• Family name at citizenship (if you’re using an Australian passport but you were born overseas).

Some general things to know about the ID check...

One of the following photo ID documents:

• Australian passport issued by the Commonwealth (current or less than two years expired)
• Current foreign passport and visa
• Current Australian driver’s licence, including photographic learner’s permit
• Current Australian government-issued proof of age card
  • NSW photo card and birth card
  • WA photo card.

OR
 

Two of the following non-photo ID documents:

• Australian or foreign birth certificate​
• Australian or foreign citizenship certificate​
• Current Australian driver’s licence that does not contain a photograph​
• Current pension card or health care card issued by Centrelink that entitles you to financial benefits
• Australian Veterans card.
  

OR
 

One item from the non-photo ID documents listed above AND one from the following secondary ID documents list (a total of two items):

• Current foreign driver’s licence
• Current notice that was issued to you by a local government body or utility provider (e.g. gas, electricity, water, rates) within the last three months that:
  • Contains your name and residential address
  • Records the provision of services by the local government body or utility provider to you at that address
• Australian Taxation Office notice issued within the last 12 months that contains your name and residential address and records a debt payable to you, or by you, to the Commonwealth
• Current security guard/crowd safety officer ID card
• If you’re under 18, a notice issued and signed within the last three months by a school principal that contains your full legal name and any other names you're known by, residential address and how long you’ve attended the school.
  

Some general things to know about the ID check...

Visit a participating Australia Post outlet. Please note not all outlets provide this service.

Use the locator to find your nearest outlet and bring with you sufficient original ID documents and the relevant identity verification form from the following list:

• Transaction and Savings Accounts Identity Verification Form (PDF)
• Credit Card Identity Verification Form (PDF)
• Personal Loans Identity Verification Form (PDF)
• Mortgagor Identity Verification Form (PDF)

Check the relevant form to see what ID documents you’ll need to provide. Note that the ID documents Australia Post will accept as verification is more limited than what we accept directly at Bankwest.
 

We'll need officially certified documents when you apply for some accounts and loans.

See our Customer Document Certification Guide (PDF) to make sure that your documents are certified correctly.

We may accept alternate documents from remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, refugees, people living in a declared natural disaster zone or people who’ve recently been released from an Australian Correctional Centre. Call us on 13 17 18 to find out what you can bring with you.

Bankwest is required under the AML/CTF Act 2006 to identify you prior to providing you with a designated service, such as:

• When you’re opening a new account
• When you’re becoming a signatory to an existing account
• When we take out a Mortgage as security for your loan. This is called Mortgagor Identity Verification
• When you are reclaiming funds from an inactive account which has been closed
• When reclaiming funds from ASIC for a closed inactive account.

Also, ID documents that you provide need to list your full name and date of birth and/or residential address.

An English translation from an accredited translator (NAATI translation) is required. 

If you’re signing and executing documents overseas, you’ll need to verify your ID. To do this, you’ll need to take one of the following to an Australian Embassy or Consulate.

• Australian Embassy/High Commission/Consulate Identity and Witnessing Certificate (PDF) - note that this is the only verification of ID method available to Western Australian mortgages signed overseas.
• Queensland Titles Registry Identity/Witnessing Certification (PDF), witnessed by a notary public, competent officer, Australian or New Zealand lawyer.
  
• Identity/Witnessing Certification (PDF), witnessed by a notary public, competent officer, Australian or New Zealand lawyer. Note that this form is available for mortgages in all states except Western Australia and Queensland.
  

For more information, refer to the Instructions to Complete Overseas Document Witnessing and Verification of Identity Requirements (PDF).

You might receive a call from us to verify your identity, check your tax residency, or ask you to visit a branch with your ID if you’re a new customer. This is to meet our regulatory obligations.​

We know it can be uncomfortable to give your personal details over the phone, so you can call us on the number below to check the call you’ve received is from Bankwest, and to verify your details.​

To contact our Customer Verification Services team, please call us on:

Bankwest Customer Line - Customer Verification Services
+61 1300 380 679 for Australian and International inbound calls.

You can contact our Customer Verification Services team from 9am - 5pm AWST, Monday to Friday.