Bankwest, or the Bank of Western Australia, offers a debit card in conjunction with its range of current accounts.  This card can be used as an EFTPOS or an ATM card as well as acting as a debit card.

Bankwest is a wholly owned subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank, and was previously owned by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).  It is a strong bank in Western Australia being founded by the government of Western Australia as a rural bank in the early twentieth century.  As a consequence it is particularly strong in rural Western Australia, and is still based in Perth.  BankWest is a full service bank that as well as current accounts and debit cards also offers credit cards, loans and business bank.

Through Commonwealth Bank, BankWest customers have access to branches throughout Australia and also access to CommSec, Australia’s leading discount stock broker.  The card is also accepted in the Commonwealth Bank’s network of ATMs which is the most extensive network in Australia.

The debit cards are tied to current accounts, and there are two main accounts on offer, the hero transaction account and the zero transaction account. Bankwest also offer some competitive savings accounts too, that could be worth considering.

The BankWest zero transaction account offers an unlimited amount of fee free transactions, as well as no monthly account keeping fee.  There is also an optional cheque book as well as access to the debit card and the telephone banking operation.  There is a requirement to deposit at least $2,000 every month so is not practical for those on low pay or who are retired.  The BankWest hero transaction account offers interest as well as fee free transactions and no monthly account keeping fee.  There is also a requirement to deposit at least $2,000 every month.

There are a number of other accounts on offer, including the BankWest Lite transaction account which is done on a monthly flat fee basis, with all other transactions being free. There are also accounts aimed at retired people and students.   None of these accounts have a minimum monthly deposit requirement.

The BankWest debit card is part of the MasterCard network.  This means that as well as being accepted in Australia it is also accepted throughout the world in around 28 million locations.  MasterCard also offer sophisticated fraud detection and prevention regimes. This means that the cards are safe enough for them to MasterCard a zero liability guarantee which guarantees card holders that they will not have to pay for any unauthorised transactions on the card if they report it in a timely manner.