How we help keep you safe online

We’re committed to protecting you from online fraud while preserving the ease and convenience of our online banking services.   Register for Online Banking
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Westpac Online Guardian
The Westpac Online Guardian fraud detection system
	is used by the Online Banking fraud team
	helps detect and stop fraudulent online transactions
Westpac Online Guardian
	continually monitors Online Banking for unusual activity
	identifies suspicious transactions
	passes details of suspicious transactions to the Online Banking fraud team for further analysis and customer confirmation if necessary
	To further safeguard your Online Banking and improve our online services to you, we’ve implemented the Online Guardian Challenge Service.
> Find out more about the Online Guardian Challenge Service.
Our Online Banking fraud team
If you get a phone call from a member of our Online Banking fraud team it's because
	they’re analysing transactions that may look suspicious
	they need confirmation transactions on your accounts have been made or authorised by you
Our Online Banking fraud team will never ask you for confirmation of your security details or password. These should not be disclosed to anyone.
Secure connection between Westpac and the Internet
All Internet banking transactions are managed via a secure server.
This is separate to the Webserver that hosts our Internet site - and it adds another layer of security for your transaction peace of mind.
We’ve also built a secure connection between Westpac systems and the Internet. This connection
	is protected by a firewall
	manages all the information going between us and the Internet
	works to prevent entry by anyone without proper authority, such as hackers

Technology is constantly changing. So we subscribe to services that regularly report on potential vulnerabilities.
We take action to ensure our security arrangements are using suitable technologies.

Encryption is a technique of coding information being sent using random mathematical 'keys'.
Only you and Westpac can readily unscramble the information. With encryption
	your customer id and password cannot be read by anyone else
	your transactions can’t be read by anyone else
	new ‘keys’ are created every time you login
	these ‘keys’ are destroyed every time you logout
We use strong 128-bit SSL encryption. To login to Online Banking, you’ll need to use an Internet Browser that supports this type of encryption.

On the Online Banking login page, check for the SSL secure connection symbol. (a locked padlock) on the bottom status bar of your browser (or to the right of the address bar if you are using Internet Explorer Version 7.0) .
	Now confirm the SSL certificate details by clicking on the padlock symbol.
Our certificate has been "digitally signed" by Verisign; the most recognised issuer of digital certificates in the world. Most browser software is written to automatically recognise any certificate "signed" by Verisign.
When viewing our certificate always ensure that
	it has been 'Issued to' sec.westpac.co.nz (for our Online Banking service) or bol.westpac.co.nz (for our Business Online service)
	the 'Issued by' section refers to www.verisign.com
	the date specified is within a valid date range

If your online banking session remains inactive for 10 minutes, you’ll be automatically ‘timed out’.
By selecting the logout link when you finish your online banking session *
	all pages you visited are removed from the browser's cache
	no one else can click on the ‘back’ button to see your account details after you have finished your online banking session

A cookie is a message sent to your browser by a Webserver (in this case, Westpac's Webserver).
Your browser stores the message in memory. This message is then sent back to the Webserver each time you request a web page.
We use two types of cookies for our internet banking services—session cookies and persistent cookies.
Despite common myths about cookies, any cookie that we send can't
	read your hard drive
	obtain any information from your browser
	command your computer to perform any action
	be sent to any site other than Westpac
	be retrieved by any site other than Westpac

Each time you login to Westpac Online Banking, a session cookie will be sent to your browser from the Westpac Webserver.
We use session cookies to
	offer increased security when logging in to Online Banking
	provide you with your confidential account information during a banking session
The cookie will only be present on your browser while you are logged in to Online Banking. When you log out of your session, the cookie is no longer valid and is discarded when you close your browser.

These are used to identify and provide personalised features such as choosing which Homepage you’d like to make your Westpac NZ start page.
They are also used as part of our website measurement software for tracking purposes.

Keep track of your Online Banking activity, bank account and credit card information with email and txt alerts.
>	What are email and txt alerts?
	Types of email and txt alerts