Bankwest’s term deposits are reasonably competitive across the most popular terms such as 6 or 12 months, but at the fringes, the rates drop off sharply. However, it does have an attainable minimum deposit criteria of $1,000 and a generous maximum of $10 million.

See below for a more in-depth breakdown of Bankwest term deposit features.

Bankwest Term Deposit Overview

Minimum deposit

$1,000

Maximum deposit

$10 million

Term lengths

1 month - 60 months

Interest paid

Monthly, Bi-annually, annually, maturity*

Early withdrawal

✅31 days' notice required
*On terms shorter than 12 months only.

Bankwest Term Deposit Features

Below are some important extra features to consider before jumping into a Bankwest term deposit.

Interest Payments

Like many other banks, Bankwest provides a choice as to how often you receive your interest payments. However, generally the highest rates go to annual or at-maturity payments. For terms shorter than 12 months, only at-maturity payments apply.

Rollover

Once your term deposit matures, you’ll have a 7-day grace period to tell Bankwest what to do with your funds plus interest. If you do nothing it will be automatically rolled over into a new term deposit at the prevailing interest rate of the day.

Choices involve a full rollover, partial rollover or full redemption of the funds. At sign-up of the term deposit, Bankwest can provide you with a linked transaction account for principal and interest to be repaid; if not, you can nominate an external bank account.

Early Withdrawal Penalties

Like many banks, 31 days' notice is required to withdraw any funds from the term deposit. It’s generally advised not to open a term deposit if you can’t see out the term. This is because you’ll sacrifice a lot of interest.

Term Elapsed

Rate Reduction p.a.

0% to less than 25%

1.20%

25% to less than 50%

0.90%

50% to less than 75%

0.60%

75% to less than 100%

0.30%

Correct at the time of writing.

Bankwest’s early withdrawal penalty schedule differs to many other banks in that there’s an explicit rate of reduction. Of course, if you are in hardship or the account holder is deceased, early withdrawal penalties do not apply.

How to Get Started with a Bankwest Term Deposit

  • Be aged 16 years or over (for online applications), or 12-15 (apply via phone)

  • Have a transaction account with Bankwest or another Australian financial institution, that allows direct debits to and from the account

  • Minimum deposit $1,000

  • Minimum term of the deposit is one month

  • Maximum term of the deposit is five years

  • If you don’t have an Australian residential address, you’ll need to call Bankwest to apply

  • Joint account applications must be done over the phone