Your six tips for safe passwords

  • Never share your passwords.
    • Westpac will never ask you for confirmation of your online banking PIN or password. These should not be disclosed to anyone.
  • Use unique passwords.
    • Use different passwords for all your online accounts. This reduces the risk of your banking details being compromised as cybercriminals will not have access to your data from multiple platforms, even if one account is compromised.
  • Use strong passwords.
    • Make long passwords with a mix of lower and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols.
    • Avoid using any personal references or notable dates as this can make it easy for a hacker to guess your password.
  • Change your password regularly.
    • Regularly changing passwords minimises the risk of your accounts being compromised if a scammer uncovers one of your old passwords.
  • Use a password manager.
    • Keeping track of all your unique, strong passwords that regularly change can be challenging. A password manager can make things easy and keep all your passwords safe. Visit Cert NZ to learn how.
  • Don’t store passwords.
    • Don’t store passwords or password managers on a shared computer or device unless you can ensure they cannot be accessed by a third party, for example using Face ID technology.
    • For security reasons, we recommend you never save your password when prompted by the browser.