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A new website, app, and new-look broker portal have been rolled out by Bankwest as it continues its transformation as a digital bank.
Western Australian-headquartered lender Bankwest has unveiled a new app and website to provide a more intuitive experience for consumers, making it easier for them to track their finances, transfer money, and achieve their property goals.
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On Tuesday (25 February), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) subsidiary released a new website and began rolling out a new upgraded app for consumers.
The updates were reportedly “co-designed and developed closely” with Bankwest customers to give them better accessibility and overview of their finances.
On the updated app, consumers can now use:
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A dedicated ‘property’ tab for home loan information, including the details of their next repayment amount and when it’s due and how much interest they’ve saved on their home loan interest and through their offset.
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A ‘money’ tab to view transactions, manage payment limits, temporarily lock or replace cards, and create and track savings goals.
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Search functionality to help them find solutions or answers to commonly asked questions (such as how to replace a card or set up your PIN).
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24/7 in-app support.
They can also “pin” accounts that they want to see at the top of their home screen, rename accounts, and swipe to navigate between account balances and details.
Customers will also be able to access “digital banking workshops” to improve their financial literacy.
Bankwest said that a new virtual cards feature will be made available via the app soon, whereby customers can create single or multi-use and time-limited debit or credit cards. This aims to give customers an added layer of protection when making payments.
The technology upgrades form part of Bankwest’s journey to becoming a digital bank.
While the lender has been fully digital since 2021 in the eastern states, it closed its last remaining branches in Western Australia in 2024.
The new tech overhaul comes as the bank accelerates its digital investment in its brand, products, and services and comes ahead of the launch of a new brand platform and national marketing campaign, set to launch later this year.
Speaking of the tech launch, Bankwest’s managing director Jason Chan said the app and website were the start of a “complete reinvention” of the bank’s digital offering to customers and brokers across Australia.
“Innovation has been part of Bankwest’s DNA for 130 years, and, today, we have a clear role in the CBA Group as a growth-focused, highly competitive national digital bank, with a fresh and distinctive proposition,” he said.
“Our aim is to create a digital banking experience that truly stands out in the Australian financial services landscape, and which is designed to meet the needs of a growing number of customers and brokers nationwide.
"We’ve conducted hundreds of hours of testing with customers and non-customers across Australia and we know there’s a significant segment of the market looking for a simpler, less complicated relationship with their bank.
"These Australians are telling us they want just the right amount of bank in their lives, one that’s working hard behind the scenes to help them manage their money, while they focus their time on what’s important to them.
“Our introduction of new technology to help customers tackle scams in 2024 marked the first of a new series of uncomplicated and genuinely useful experiences for customers and there’s much more to come this year.
“We have exciting plans to deliver digital banking experiences in our app and website that truly stand out from our competitors and we’re looking forward to unveiling our new national brand campaign to customers in 2025.”
Speaking to The Adviser last year, Bankwest’s general manager, third party, Ian Rakhit, said that the bank’s move to become a fully digital bank would be positive for the broker channel, as it would result in “redirection of investment into broker tools and broker services”.
According to Rakhit, he envisages this investment to include more credit managers and focus on creating jobs in technology and operations, while continuing to improve its broker portal with AI-driven tools and enhanced solutions.
[Related: Bankwest announces major transformation, focus on brokers]
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