Westpac

Is Westpac safe?

For depositors, yes. Westpac had a CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary capital ratio of 12.06% at 30 June 2026, above the 10.25% that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) requires, and its average liquidity coverage ratioLiquidity coverage ratioA bank's cash and easy-to-sell assets compared with the money that could flow out in a 30-day crisis. It must be at least 100%.More in the glossary was 134% in the June quarter. S&P, Moody's and Fitch all rate it in the AA range. Deposits up to A$250,000 per account holder are guaranteed by the government's Financial Claims Scheme. We score it 76/100, two points below Commonwealth Bank. The difference is conduct. Westpac paid A$1.3 billion in 2020 for more than 23 million breaches of anti-money launderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary law, then the largest civil penalty in Australian history, and spent five years under extra capital charges while it fixed its risk management.

What the A$250,000 guarantee covers

The Financial Claims Scheme guarantees deposits at Australian-incorporated banks up to A$250,000 per account holder at each bank. Savings, transaction and cheque accounts, term deposits and separate mortgage offset accounts all count. If the scheme were triggered, APRA aims to pay within seven days.

Two details matter at Westpac:

• The brands share one limit. St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA are divisions of Westpac Banking Corporation, not separate banks. A$200,000 at Westpac and A$100,000 at St.George is A$300,000 at one bank, so A$50,000 is outside the guarantee.
• Foreign currency is not covered. US dollar or other foreign currency accounts depend on Westpac alone.

Westpac New Zealand is a separate bank under New Zealand's own deposit scheme. Westpac is one of Australia's four domestic systemically important banks and holds an extra 1% of CET1CET1 ratioA bank's highest-quality capital (mainly shares and retained profits) as a share of its risk-weighted assets. Higher means more room to absorb losses.More in the glossary for it, but it is not on the global G-SIBG-SIBA global systemically important bank: one of the large banks the Financial Stability Board lists each year because its failure could harm the world economy.More in the glossary list.

Capital and liquidity

APRA's capital rules are stricter than the Basel minimum, so 12.06% here is worth more than the same number at a European bank. The buffer over the requirement is still narrower than at DBS or MUFG, and APRA will raise the requirement by 0.25 points in January 2027 when it phases out AT1 capital.

Funding is the other point to watch. About a quarter of Westpac's money comes from wholesale markets, more than at Commonwealth Bank, where deposits make up close to four fifths of funding. Wholesale funding can get dearer or dry up in a crisis. Westpac holds A$183 billion of high-quality liquid assets against that risk.

The AUSTRAC case and what followed

In November 2019 AUSTRAC, Australia's financial intelligence agency, sued Westpac for widespread breaches of the Anti-Money LaunderingAnti-money launderingThe rules and checks that stop criminals from moving illegal money through banks, payment firms and crypto exchanges.More in the glossary and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act. Westpac admitted more than 23 million contraventions, and on 21 October 2020 the Federal Court ordered a A$1.3 billion penalty.

APRA's response mattered more for the bank's day-to-day running. It added A$500 million to Westpac's operational risk capital requirement in July 2019 and another A$500 million in December 2019. In December 2020 Westpac signed a court enforceable undertaking with APRA, admitting that its non-financial risk culture was "immature and reactive", and set up a multi-year repair programme. APRA halved the add-on in July 2024 and removed the rest in October 2025, saying the programme was complete.

Smaller cases kept coming. In 2022 the Federal Court ordered A$113 million of penalties across six ASIC cases, including advice fees charged to more than 11,800 dead customers, with over A$80 million of refunds. In 2026 it ordered a A$26 million penalty for failing, between 2017 and 2023, to answer more than 200 online hardship requests on time. The judge called this grossly negligent and rejected the A$10 million Westpac had proposed. A shareholder class action linked to the AUSTRAC case goes to trial in April 2027.

How to keep your money safe at Westpac

1. Add up your balances across Westpac, St.George, Bank of Melbourne and BankSA. Keep the total within A$250,000 if you want it all guaranteed, and move the rest to a bank with its own licence.
2. Treat foreign currency accounts as unprotected.
3. Turn on biometric login and read the SaferPay and Verify warnings before you pay a new payee; a name mismatch is a common sign of a scam.
4. If you think you have paid a scammer, call Westpac at once. There is no automatic refund for a payment you authorised, so speed is what gives you a chance.

How we scored it

Deposit protectionDeposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary (86), stability history (84) and capital (83) are Westpac's strongest factors: a generous government guarantee, AA-range ratings and no government capital in 2008. Conduct (42) is the weakest, reflecting the record AUSTRAC penalty, five years of APRA capital add-ons and further ASIC penalties. Liquidity (82) sits a little below Commonwealth Bank because Westpac relies more on wholesale funding.