Even though we’ve traditionally focused on the Australian Defence Force, you don’t have to be a Defence Force employee or relative to take advantage of Defence Bank’s products and services – membership is open to all Australians.
We’re always happy to see our members in person. Our branches can help you with anything from general account information to home loans. If the branch is on a military base, just give the branch a call to let them know you’re coming in so they can escort you.
Definitely. If you’re already a member, to open a new account (including new joint accounts) you can log into your app or online banking and follow the below instructions, or you can give us a call on 1800 033 139. If you’re not yet a member, you can join now and open accounts during the set up process.
App
- Login to your app.
- Under the main menu, select Manage Account and tap Joint Account.
- Select Open Joint Account and follow the prompts.
Online Banking
- Login to online banking.
- Under the main menu, select Products and tap Open Account following the prompts.
Find out how to join Defence Bank.
You can open as many savings accounts as you like! When it comes to the iSaver however, just remember that you can only have the introductory rate on the first one that you open.
You can have as many as you like! There are no account keeping fees, and you can name them whatever you like to distinguish them in your online banking.
You can open a Salute account within 365 days from the date of reaching an ADF milestone. (for deployment/seagoing you can apply as soon as you have received your papers, so we can set up the account before you go)
- You have reached 15 or 25 years of service in the ADF.
- You are deployed.
- You start receiving a seagoing allowance.
- You retire from the ADF.
- You resign from the ADF.
- You are discharged from the ADF on medical grounds.
If you’re unsure, simply give us a call on 1800 033 139, and we’ll be more than happy to check for you.
Your interest rate will revert back to the standard Salute account rate. Other terms and conditions apply.
Currently, the bonus savings rate lasts for six months for amounts up to $250,000.00.
There are a few options available, including using online banking, our mobile app, attaching a Visa Debit card to the account, or you can head into any of our branches to speak to one of our friendly staff.
When you turn 18, we will convert your Teen Saver or Cadet Saver to an Everyday Access account. Your Visa Debit card, payments, account details and account nickname will stay the same.
These accounts are held solely in the name of the child or teen. As soon as a child turns 12, they have full control over their accounts, and we will always need to speak directly with them in regards to their membership.
Different accounts may have different fee structures depending on how you use them. You can find our full fees and charges schedule below.
If an account has no member-initiated transactions for 12 months it will be made dormant.
You can activate your account from dormant to active by contacting our Contact Centre on 1800 033 139, your local branch, sending us a Secure Message or using the Contact Us form. A dormant account can be avoided by transferring as little as five (5) cents either in or out of the account within a 12 month period.
Opening a joint account has never been easier through our app and online banking. To open a Joint Account, you must both be members of Defence Bank and have downloaded our app or know your login details to online banking. Then follow the below steps:
App.
- Login to your app.
- Under the main menu, select Manage Account and tap Joint Account.
- Select Open Joint Account and follow the prompts.
Online banking.
- Login to online banking.
- Under the main menu, select Products and tap Open Account.
- Follow the prompts and select the account type you would like to open.
- Once you have selected your account, scroll down and tap the checkbox ‘Joint Account Option’. Here you will need to enter the Defence Bank membership details of the person you would like to share the account with.
- Select Open Account.
Once a joint account has been opened, a prompt will be sent to the other account holder asking them to accept the joint account request. They can do this via the app or online banking following the below steps:
App.
- Login to your app.
- Under the main menu, select Manage Account and tap Joint Account.
- Select Pending Joint Accounts and follow the prompts.
Online banking.
- Login to online banking.
Under the main menu, select Products and tap on Pending Joint Account, and follow the prompts.
Find out how to join Defence Bank.
Depending on your needs and situation, you can open any one or multiple of the below accounts as a joint account via our app or online banking:
A regular payment is an agreement between a customer and a merchant to debit either a bank account or a card at a determined interval agreed by both parties.
There are two types of regular payments - direct debit and recurring payment.
A direct debit is an automatic transaction that transfers money from your account to another.
Direct debit payments are considered a type of ‘account-to-account’ payment method. When you set up a direct debit, you authorise a merchant or service provider to take an agreed amount of money from your nominated account using your BSB and Account Number. Direct Debits are set up with the supplier.
A recurring payment is a regular payment from your Visa Debit or credit card.
When you set up a Recurring payment, you give your credit card or debit card details (card number, expiry date and security code) to a merchant or supplier to allow them to charge your credit card regularly to pay for the services they provide you.
Direct debits are handy for paying regular bills, such as your monthly phone bill, Insurance, loan repayments, gym membership. Automatic payment means you don't have to remember to pay the bill, and you don't risk any late fees.
To set up a direct debit, you arrange a direct debit authority. This allows a service provider to withdraw money from your account.
Providers may specify direct debit payments as a condition of signing up for a product or service.
You can set up a direct debit to withdraw money from your bank account or set up a recurring payment from your credit card.
The amount can be fixed or variable and can come out at set dates or at regular intervals. For example, you could set up a direct debit with:
- your real estate agent to pay your rent on the first day of every month.
- your electricity provider to pay your bill from your transaction account or credit every 3 months.
- your insurance provider to pay your monthly insurance premium from your transaction account or credit card.
If you are wanting to stop a direct debit payment you can request the bank to make the direct debit inactive via a call to our Contact Centre or by a secure message in your Online Banking if it is before the date the debit is due to be processed. Alternatively, you can contact the merchant or service provider.
To cancel a recurring payment from your Visa Debit or credit card, you should contact the merchant at least 15 days before the next scheduled payment and keep a copy of the cancellation request.
If the merchant does not act in accordance with your instructions you may be able to dispute the transaction. Disputed transactions can be completed over the phone or requested by a secure message in your Online Banking.
As the payments are set up directly with the provider any changes would need to go through them directly.
Before you set up a direct debit, make sure you trust the service provider. You are giving them permission to withdraw money from your account.
Check your accounts regularly to make sure the provider is taking out the agreed amount of money.
If you find an incorrect or unauthorised transaction, contact Defence Bank as soon as possible.
For extra security, your card comes with a new CVC and expiry date.
This means that if you’ve set up direct debits or regular payment arrangements linked to your old card like Spotify, Netflix or your weekly gym membership fee, you’ll need to update these services with your new card details so you don’t miss a payment.
You may want to complete our regular payment letter template to help you with this.
Usually when:
- You don't have enough money in your account on the day the payment is due to be taken out.
- The payment is not inline with your pay cycle.
- The service provider is untrustworthy.
- You don't know how to cancel the payments when you need to.
We have made some cost savings in the way we process direct debits so we can reduce our fees. We want to provide a better experience through a text message notification service.
As part of this change, we have:
- The introduction of a free SMS service which notifies you automatically of when there are insufficient funds in an account to honour a direct debit request. This SMS will give a small grace period-of- time to transfer funds to the nominated account to avoid the payment dishonouring and attracting a dishonour fee.
- A reduction in the fee charged if a direct debit payment is dishonoured due to insufficient funds from $10.00 to $0.00.
The fee will be reduced from $10.00 to $0.00.
We no longer charge members a $10.00 fee for honouring payments where there are insufficient funds in an account, as the process of honouring direct debit will cease.
We will therefore be removing this fee from all our products and services.
The dishonour fees changes will take place 1st of November 2024.
Yes, we will be sending you a text message on the morning of the next business day.
The text message will be sent on the next business day, generally first thing in the morning.
You will have approximately 2-3 hours to deposit funds into your nominated accounts to meet your direct debit obligations.
The payment will dishonour. Suppliers, such as a gym membership or insurer will not receive any money.
We will look at the direct debit declines the next business day and then it’s usually 2-3 hours from the time you get our first text message.
No, we will no longer honour payments, therefore there is no honour fee that will apply.
No, the bank will not be moving funds from one account to the nominated account to cater for direct debits. The onus is on you to ensure you have sufficient funds to meet your direct debit obligations.
This is the account where funds have been nominated to come out of in a direct debit arrangement.
You will receive a text message on the next business day (after the direct debit has failed) advising you to add funds to your nominated account.
The text message will be sent to you on the next business day (in the morning) after a failed attempt. You will then have around 2-3 hours to deposit funds to meet your direct debit obligations otherwise your payment will fail to be transferred to the supplier.
The text message service is for free; therefore, it will not cost anything to receive a text message from us.
Set up direct debits to come out of your account the day after pay day, so you know you have enough in your account.
For personal accounts, our minimum term deposit is $1,000, and there is no maximum amount you can get started with.
Learn more about our term deposits.
For business accounts, our minimum term deposit is $2,000, and there is no maximum amount you can get started with.
While it’s not possible to add funds during the term, you can add any funds at maturity for the next term. We’ll send you the form via email, up to a month before the maturity date to ask you what you’d like to do, and you can note on the form that you’d like to add funds, and send it back to us.
While interest rates for new term deposits may change during your term, this will never affect a deposit that is part way through its term. That rate is locked in for the agreed amount of months.
If you require your funds before the maturity date of the term, either partially or in full, a pre-payment adjustment and an early redemption fee of $30 will apply.
| Percentage of the term lapsed. | Adjustment to be applied as a % of your interest rate. |
| 0% to less than 20% | 90% |
| 20% to less than 40% | 80% |
| 40% to less than 60% | 60% |
| 60% to less than 80% | 40% |
| 80% to less than 100% | 20% |
Prepayment adjustment example: For a 5.00% p.a. one-year term deposit of $50,000, where the entire account balance was withdrawn after 4 months:
- Divide the original interest rate by 365 to get the daily interest rate 5.00% ÷ 365 = 0.0136986%
- Multiply this by the amount of the term deposit to get the interest earned each day $50,000 x 0.0136986% = $6.8493
- Multiply this by the number of days for which the funds were deposited $6.8493 x 122 days = $835.62
- Find the percentage of the original term that has elapsed 122/365 (days) = 0.33 (33%). As 33% of the original term has passed, the interest will be reduced by 80%.
- Multiply the interest earned by 80% (0.80) to get the prepayment interest reduction $835.62 x 0.80 (80%) = 80% $668.49 (rounded to two decimal places).
This is the interest you will lose if you close your term deposit early. These calculations do not include the $30 early withdrawal fee.
Note that the calculation above is intended as a guide only and may vary slightly from your actual interest earned due to the rounding used in the example.
If you would like a form to complete, please contact us.
From 15th of April 2025 the grace period will be 7 calendar days.
If you have already provided us instructions prior to or during the grace period (e.g. a new term), then the ability to add or withdraw funds will not be available in online banking. You will be required to complete a new written request, you can do this by contacting us, or accessing the form sent prior to maturity.
Yes, from 15th of April 2025 a joint owner with single sign on access can add deposits and withdraw via online banking.
From 15th of April 2025, if you are an owner of the account (not a signatory) and would like to add funds or redeem a portion of your term deposit to or from a Defence Bank savings account, you can do so via online banking:
- Select transfer, (found by selecting the three dots beside the relevant term deposit).
- Select 'Deposit to' or 'withdraw from'.
- Select your nominated Defence Bank deposit account to receive the funds by selecting the drop-down box beside the visible deposit accounts.
- Nominate the amount to be paid.
- Select Pay now.
- Review payment details and either select back to amend or Confirm to complete the payment.
You can then select make another payment to process another deposit or withdrawal. If you have finished click on the Defence Bank logo to go back to your list of accounts.
Yes you will need to leave a minimum of $1,000.
There is no penalty or fee.
No, not via online banking.
However, you can set up your term deposit to redeem at maturity to a Defence Bank savings account by completing a withdrawal request via online banking. If you wish to fully close your term deposit during the grace period, you will need to request closure by contacting us.
No, if the term deposit has just been opened you can’t access it in online banking. You can however contact us and provide us instructions to do so.
Yes, provided it’s within the grace period and you leave at least $1,000. Requests outside the grace period, you will need to contact us.
From 15th of April 2025, you can still add or withdraw funds right up to the last day of your grace period in online banking. If you don’t have online banking, you are required to provide instructions to us before the public holiday to avoid any penalties.
No, the online feature will not be available. You will need to contact us to make this transaction.
Currently only an individual account holder (an account in the name of one person only) can make changes to term deposit renewal instructions via online banking.
Joint account holders cannot change the account to redeem in online banking, however, they can view the renewal information.
A signatory to the account can view the account in online banking, but cannot see the renewal instructions nor make changes in online banking.
Power of Attorney (POA) holders can view the renewal information, but, cannot make any changes in online banking.
When you sign into online banking with your individual membership number, you are a signatory to your business account and so cannot make changes to your business term deposit renewal instructions in online banking.
This is the same for Retirement Savings Account (RSA) account holders, you will not be able to see the renewal instructions nor make changes in online banking for an RSA term deposit.
When you sign into Online Banking with your individual membership number, you are a signatory to your child's accounts and so cannot make changes to your child's term deposit renewal instructions in Online Banking.
Prior to the maturity date, if you are the sole account owner, you can elect to redeem to a Defence Bank savings account in your name at maturity.
Prior to the maturity date, if you are the sole account owner, you can elect to renew your term deposit for the same term at the rate available on the day of maturity.
From 15th of April 2025, at the maturity date or during the ‘grace period’, you are unable to change your instructions to redeem in full via online banking. Any instructions loaded in online banking during the grace period will be processed at the next maturity.
From 15th of April 2025, at maturity, you can chose to add or withdraw funds from a term depoist that has renewed so long as you have not provided instructions to us to process a change and you leave the minimum $1,000.00 in the account.
If you are the sole owner of the account (not a signatory or joint account holder) and would like to redeem all of your term deposit to a Defence Bank savings account, you can do so via online banking:
- Select renewal details, (found by selecting the three dots beside the relevant term deposit).
- Select 'No' when asked if you want to renew.
- Select your nominated deposit account to receive the funds by selecting the drop-down box beside the visible savings accounts.
- Select save changes.
Your new instructions will now show as having been updated.
These instructions can be revoked or amended at any time prior to the maturity of the term deposit.
Currently the term deposit self-serve option is only available in online banking.
We hope to have it deployed to the Defence Bank App at a future date.
You will need to provide your signed instructions in writing to Defence Bank.
HINT: If you wish to avoid the paperwork, go to online banking, and set your renewal to pay straight to your Defence Bank everyday account or savings account and transfer external online on the day or shortly after.
No - To add funds to a Defence Bank term deposit, funds need to be in a Defence Bank account on the day of maturity/commencement or during the grace period.
If you are unable to action via online banking at maturity, requests to add funds can be submitted via a DocuSign form, secure mail, email or over the phone if the from account is a 'may sign alone account'. Your request will then be actioned on the day of maturity (or the next business day).
No - To change the term of your term deposit, a request can be submitted via a DocuSign form, secure mail, email or over the phone if the term deposit is a 'may sign alone account'. Your request will then be actioned on the day of maturity (or the next business day).
If the account is a two to sign account, the request will need to be completed in writing signed by the required number of signatories.
Hint: If you wish to avoid the paperwork, go to online banking, and set your renewal to pay straight to your Defence Bank everyday account or savings account and and then set up a new term deposit for the new term on the day or shortly after.
If you do not have a Defence Bank Savings account, you will not be able to redeem your term deposit online.
The savings accounts available for selection must meet the following criteria:
- be active.
- be a Defence Bank account.
- be owned by the term deposit holder (joint accounts are acceptable).
Full redemption:
No - All instructions to redeem a term deposit in full need to be received prior to maturity, if it is already the day of maturity you will need to submit your request in writing for our team to process on your behalf.
Partial redemption:
Yes - From 15th of April 2025, if you are an owner of the account (not a signatory) and would like to redeem a portion of your term deposit to a Defence Bank savings account, you can do so via online banking
When interest is set to capitalise, the balance shown on the renewal instruction page in Online Banking is a combination of the current term deposit balance and the expected interest at the time of maturity.
If changes are made to the term deposit during the term, this will change the renewal balance.
Full redemption:
No - All full redemption request instructions need to be received prior to maturity, If the maturity date has passed you will need to submit your request in writing for our team to process on your behalf.
Partial redemption:
Yes - From 15th of April 2025, if you are an owner of the account (not a signatory) and would like to redeem a portion of your term deposit to a Defence Bank savings account, you can do so during the grace period via online banking.
From 15th of April 2025, if you have enabled e communication with Defence Bank, you will receive a term deposit certificate the next business day via email.
If you have an email address on file with us, a month before the maturity date we will email a reminder notice to ask you what you’d like to do with your term deposit.
If you dont have an email address, or have opted out of E communication, all communication will be actioned by mail.