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 iSaver, you can only have one iSaver account (per individual or joint relationship) for the introductory rate to be applied.
You can have one iSaver account (per individual or joint relationship) for the introductory rate to be applied.
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.
Personal term deposits
Minimum deposit: $1,000
No maximum limit
Learn more about our personal term deposits.
Business term deposits
Minimum deposit: $2,000
No maximum limit
No.
Once a term deposit is opened, the agreed interest rate is fixed for the duration of the term.
No.
Once a term deposit has commenced, additional funds cannot be added during the fixed term.
Funds may only be added at maturity or during the 7-day grace period following maturity.
Not during the current term.
Once a term deposit has commenced, the agreed term is fixed and cannot be changed until maturity.
If you would like to select a different term for the next investment period, you can provide instructions to Defence Bank before maturity and we will process the change at maturity.
Tip: You can also redeem the funds to a Defence Bank account at maturity and open a new term deposit online for your preferred term.
Yes.
You can request a partial or full withdrawal before maturity. However, an early redemption fee and a reduction in interest earned (prepayment adjustment) will apply.
An early withdrawal will incur:
A $30 early redemption fee.
A prepayment adjustment that reduces the interest earned.
The reduction depends on how much of the original term has lapsed.
| 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.
If you have an email address on file, we'll send a maturity reminder before your term deposit matures so you can review your options. If you do not have an email address or have opted out of electronic communications, we'll contact you via post.
Changes to renewal instructions can only be made by the sole owner of a personal term deposit.
| Relationship to account | View renewal instructions | Change renewal instructions |
| Sole account owner | Yes | Yes |
| Joint account holder | Yes | No |
| Signatory | No | No |
| Power of Attorney holder | Yes | No |
| Business account signatory | No | No |
| RSA term deposit holder | No | No |
| Child accunt signatory | No | No |
These permissions relate to renewal instructions before maturity only.
Different access rules may apply to transactions completed during the grace period.
If you are the sole account owner, you can:
- Change your renewal instructions.
- Choose to renew for the same term.
- Choose to redeem the term deposit to an eligible Defence Bank savings account at maturity.
- Update or revoke your instructions at any time before maturity.
You cannot:
- Add funds.
- Withdraw part of the balance.
- Change the term.
- Redeem to an external bank account.
To redeem your term deposit at maturity:
- Select Renewal Details from the menu beside the term deposit.
- Select No when asked if you want to renew.
- Select the Defence Bank account you would like the funds paid into.
- Select Save Changes.
You can update or revoke these instructions at any time before maturity.
Yes.
If you are eligible to manage renewal instructions in Online Banking, you can update, replace or remove your instructions at any time before maturity.
Once the term deposit reaches maturity, renewal instructions can no longer be changed through Online Banking.
Funds can only be paid to an eligible Defence Bank account that:
- Is active.
- Is held with Defence Bank.
- Is owned by the term deposit holder.
- May be either an individual or joint account.
No. Online Banking only allows redemption to an eligible Defence Bank account.
If you would like the funds paid to another financial institution, you will need to provide written instructions to Defence Bank.
Tip: You can redeem the funds to a Defence Bank savings account and then transfer them externally once the funds are available.
Online Banking changes are only available to sole personal account holders.
If you access an account as a signatory, including:
- A business account
- A child account
- An RSA term deposit
you won't be able to view or change renewal instructions online.
If you need to change your maturity instructions, please contact Defence Bank. Depending on the account type and signing arrangements, instructions may be accepted via secure mail, email, written request or other approved channels.
At this time, term deposit self-service features are not available in the Defence Bank App.
Term deposit self-service features are currently available through Defence Bank Online Banking
Where interest is set to capitalise, the renewal amount displayed in Online Banking includes:
- The current term deposit balance.
- The interest expected to be earned by maturity.
If changes are made during the term, this amount may change.
Before maturity, eligible sole account holders can update renewal instructions in Online Banking.
During the 7-day grace period after maturity, eligible account owners can add or withdraw funds online while maintaining a minimum balance of $1,000.
Full term deposit closures after maturity must be requested through Defence Bank.
The grace period is the 7 calendar days immediately following maturity.
During this period, eligible account owners may adjust the balance of a renewed term deposit without penalty.
The following account owners can access grace period features:
- Sole account owners
- Joint account holders with Online Banking access
Signatories are not able to access these features. This includes business account signatories, child account signatories and other authorised signatories.
If no staff-assisted instructions have already been processed, eligible account owners may:
- Add funds to the term deposit.
- Withdraw part of the balance.
- Complete multiple deposits or withdrawals.
- Continue making changes during the 7-day grace period.
A minimum balance of $1,000 must remain in the term deposit.
Full redemption and changes to the term cannot be completed through Online Banking during the grace period.
- Select Transfer from the menu beside the term deposit.
- Select Deposit To or Withdraw From.
- Select the Defence Bank account to receive or provide the funds.
- Enter the amount.
- Select Pay Now.
- Review the details and confirm the transaction.
You can complete additional deposits or withdrawals during the grace period if required.
No.
Instructions to redeem a term deposit in full through Online Banking must be loaded before the maturity date.
If your term deposit has already matured, you can still request full redemption by contacting Defence Bank. Once the Grace period has ended Applicable fees or adjustments will apply.
No.
Full closure of a term deposit cannot be completed through Online Banking once the maturity date has arrived.
If you wish to fully redeem the term deposit during the grace period, please contact Defence Bank.
No.
If Defence Bank has already received and processed instructions for the term deposit, online grace period functionality will no longer be available.
Any further changes will need to be requested through Defence Bank.
Yes.
You can complete multiple transactions during the grace period, provided:
- The grace period has not expired.
- At least $1,000 remains in the term deposit.
Online Banking remains available until the final day of the grace period.
If you are unable to use Online Banking, instructions should be provided before the public holiday to ensure they can be processed within the grace period.
No.
There are no fees, penalties or interest reductions for changes made during the grace period.