Electronic Identity Verification
We collect, use and disclose personal information you give us (including in some cases and with your consent, your sensitive information) to verify your identity (and the identity of those you are authorised to represent, where applicable) electronically. We do this for one or more of these purposes:
- To comply with our customer identification obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth)
- To meet verification of identity requirements under Australian States and Territories real property or electronic conveyancing laws
- Security and fraud prevention.
Where you agree or we are permitted to, we disclose information you give us to third parties that help us verify your identity. These third parties may include service providers, credit reporting bodies, government bodies located in Australia, New Zealand or India, database owners (which may include parties that hold your personal information for purposes including, but not limited to, payroll information and/or superannuation contribution information provided by your employer(s)).
If you do not wish to provide your identity information online, you can attend a branch with your identity documents to verify your identity. If you choose not to provide your identity information either online or in a branch, we will need to reject your application, or we will not be able to provide, or continue to provide, you with our products or services.
Our Identity Verification Privacy Notice which is available at www.westpac.com.au/privacy/identity-verification-notice-full or by calling us on 132 032 explains in more detail how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information to verify your identity (and the identity of those you are authorised to represent, where applicable) electronically, including using automated biometric verification technology.
You confirm that you:
- are authorised to provide the personal information being given to us including details of your identity documents and details of identity documents about a child for whom you are a parent or guardian, where applicable;
- are providing true and correct information; and
- understand that providing false or misleading information is an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth).
Depending on which identity documents you provide, we'll disclose this information with one or more of the relevant third parties to verify your identity. You can find out more about which third parties will receive which identity documents, and how they use this information for identity verification.
| Australian Government’s Document Verification Service (DVS) |
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| You consent to using and disclosing identity information you give us to make an Information Request through the systems and services provided by an approved Document Verification Service (DVS) gateway service provider we have contracted with to access and use the Australian Government’s DVS. We do this to verify the information provided either matches or does not match the information held by the relevant government body. Where you have provided information from an identity document issued by a New Zealand government body, you also consent to that information being transferred between Australia and New Zealand. |
| SuperChoice single touch payroll and superannuation data sources |
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| You consent to disclosing your personal information, including your name, address and date of birth to service providers for the purpose of us verifying your identity. These service providers will match your personal information against information they may already hold about you, which may include payroll and/or superannuation data sources. |
| Automated biometric verification (e.g. use of facial recognition technology) |
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| If we ask to verify your identity by comparing a photo or video recording of your face with the photo from your identity documents, such as a driver’s licence or passport, collecting your sensitive biometric information in the form of facial images and disclosing this information to our service provider who will use this information to assess whether the images match using facial recognition technology. |
| Capturing images or taking copies of identity documents which may contain sensitive information |
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| If we ask for copies of your identity documents, collecting any sensitive information such as health information or information about ethnicity which may appear on the documents, for example, information about driver aids or vehicle modifications. |
| Credit Reporting Body Credit Header data sources |
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| You consent to disclosing your name, date of birth and residential address to a credit reporting body and requesting the body to give us an assessment of whether the information you have provided matches the information that they have on record. |
| Government of India identity document verification |
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| You consent to using and disclosing identity information you give us to make an information request through the systems and services provided by UNSD Information Technology Pte Ltd (Asia Verify) and Monnai, Inc (approved intermediaries of Passport Seva, PSP Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India) for passports. We do this to verify the information provided either matches or does not match the information held by the relevant government body. Where you have provided information from an identity document issued by a Government of India body, you also consent to that information being transferred between Australia and India. |