Savings Goals
Reaching your savings goals is all about consistency. You could get there faster by setting up a recurring transfer to your savings account in the Westpac App.
What’s Savings Goals and how can it help?
Savings Goals is a feature of Westpac Life and Bump savings accounts, designed to help make your dreams a reality.
- Account holders and authorised users can use the feature to view, add, edit and delete Savings Goals
- Set up multiple savings goals in one account, tracking your progress in the Westpac App
- Know how much you need to put away, adjust or top up your regular payments as you go
- Put your savings on autopilot by setting up recurring transfers, making goals easier to achieve
- Share your Savings Goals with family or friends to stay motivated and reach them sooner.
A savings goal shared is a dream fulfilled sooner
Making the most of Savings Goals
Set it and forget it
Customers who set up a recurring transfer from their transaction account to their savings account are more likely to reach their goals.
Setting up a recurring transfer on your Westpac Life or Bump savings account only takes a few minutes. It may be a great way to help keep your savings on track.
Send a thank you
When you ask others to contribute to your goal or share goals with others, you can send them a Thank You card.
Choose from a selection of digital card designs to express your thanks. Find a card design in Send thanks under Share options when you select your savings goal in the Westpac App.
How do I set up, manage and share Savings Goals in the Westpac App?
Setting up a goal for myself
- Select your Life or Bump savings account, then tap the Savings Goals dropdown menu beneath your account balance
- Select Myself when asked who the goal is for
- Tap Add new savings goal to create your new goal
- Personalise your goal by giving it a name, setting the goal amount and goal end date
- Tap Confirm. You’ll then be able to set up a regular transfer to put your savings on autopilot.
Tip: Before signing into the Westpac App and trying to set up a savings goal, make sure you update to the latest version of the app.
Setting up a shared goal
- Select your Life or Bump savings account, then tap the Savings Goals dropdown menu beneath your account balance
- Select Shared with someone else when asked who the goal is for
- Follow the prompts, then provide your goal name, the goal amount (optional) and the target end date
- You'll then be prompted to set up a regular transfer – you can do it now or opt to do it later
- Finally, tap Share goal to share the goal with another Life or Bump account holder or ask others to contribute to the goal.
Sharing Savings Goals with others
You can send an invite to share a goal with:
1) a Westpac customer who holds a joint savings account
and/or
2) an account with authorised third party value access attached to it. You'll share your goal with all other joint account holders and authorised third parties.
This means:
- All of these parties will receive the invite to join the goal
- Only one of these parties has to accept the invite (even if another has declined) for the shared goal to be accepted and viewed by all
- An invited joint account holder or authorised third party can choose the savings account under which they wish to accept the invite if they hold multiple accounts. It doesn't have to be an account all the invited parties hold.
How do I track my savings goal?
Each Savings Goal includes a graph that shows:
- How much time has passed
- Your target date
- The progress you’ve made to reach the goal amount.
Depending on how close you are to the target date, Savings Goals will tell you how much you need to deposit on a monthly, weekly or daily basis to achieve your goal.
With shared Savings Goals the graph will show:
- Your contributions
- Other people’s contributions.
A table below the graph will show the:
- Total contributions to the goal
- Amount and percentage each person has contributed so far.
Can’t see a graph? The graph will only show if the goal owner has set a target amount and/or target date for the goal.
How to delete or leave a goal
Savings Goals remain open, even once you’ve achieved the goal or the target date is reached. It’s up to you to remove a Savings Goal when it suits you.
If you delete a Savings Goal, any funds you had in your Savings Goal will automatically move back to your ‘Spare Funds’ bucket.
You can leave a goal at any time. Go to your goal:
- Select Edit
- Tap Leave goal.
How to send a Thank You card
The same instructions apply when sending a Thank You card for a single savings goal or a shared goal. Both the goal owner and the goal contributor can send goals.
- Select your account, then the savings goal or go directly to your savings goal
- Tap Share options, then tap Send thanks
- Select a card design and tap Next, then tap Select thanks
- Choose your recipient and delivery method (e.g. SMS or email), then send.
When will I receive Savings Goal notifications?
You’ll receive a notification if your goal details have changed or when your goal reaches certain milestones. Joint account holders or authorised third parties may also receive notifications. You can update your notifications settings. Go to Profile, select Settings, then choose Notifications and marketing and make your updates.
Aged 18-34?
You could earn up to 5.00% p.a. variable interest on your first $30,000 savings with a Life Savings and Choice bank account. T&Cs and exclusions apply.
Want to give Savings Goals a go but don’t have an eligible savings account?
18 or over: Westpac Life
Open a Westpac Life savings account online, it’ll take just minutes to open. Once open, you can set up and reach your savings goals.
Under 18: Westpac Bump
Saving is easier when you start young. A Westpac Bump kids savings account may help kids save with savings goals.
Frequently asked questions
To find Savings Goals within Online Banking, select your Westpac Life or Westpac Bump account on your dashboard and click on the Savings Goals tab. Then simply follow the steps to set up your goal.
You can set up to six goals within the one account. Got more than six goals you’re saving for? Don’t worry, you can always open more than one eligible savings account.
You can choose from six different categories:
- Home and property
- Lifestyle
- Holidays and travel
- Car
- Other.
Your interest is calculated on the total balance held in the account, and this interest will be paid to the ‘Spare Funds’ bucket. You can then choose which goal you want to transfer your ‘Spare Funds’ to.
Setting a target date and amount is optional. However, you’ll only be able to track savings progress if you’ve set a goal amount.
Savings Goals remain open, even once you’ve achieved the goal or the target date is reached. It’s up to you to remove a Savings Goal when it suits you.
If you delete a Savings Goal, any funds you had in your Savings Goal will automatically move back to your ‘Spare Funds’ bucket.
You can leave a goal at any time. Go to your goal:
- select Edit
- Tap Leave goal.
Have concerns about the shared goal feature?
If you:
- Don’t like the shared goal feature
- Are worried someone is using the shared goal feature without your permission
Give us a call on 132 032 (8am-8pm, Sydney time, Mon-Fri) and we can either turn off the feature for your profile or investigate other ways to assist you.
You can invite someone who's not a Westpac customer to contribute to your goal. Just send them a message. The message will have your bank account details so that they can deposit money into your account. They won't, however, be able to monitor or track the goal.
How can another person view and track the Savings Goal the same way that you can? They'll need to be a Westpac customer with a Westpac Life or Westpac Bump savings account or have third party access to the account.
A shared goal can be seen by anyone who:
- Accepts a share goal
- Has access to the participating accounts, including any joint account holders or authorised third parties.
The details of the goal they’ll be able to see include:
- Your first name
- Goal name
- Goal category
- Target date (if one has been set)
- Target amount (if one has been set)
They’ll also be able to see any contributions made to the goal. Pending transactions won’t show against your goal contributions until they’re fully processed.
Your account details will remain private
Your account information and balance won’t be shared with anyone contributing to the goal.
Your money stays in your account
By sharing a goal you can both see:
- How much you’re contributing to the goal
- If either has taken money out of the goal (but your money doesn’t leave your account)
- How much you contribute is your choice.
Accepting a shared goal invitation is optional
Account holder(s) invited to share a goal from another Westpac customer don’t have to accept – it’s their choice.
Sharing a goal with one joint account holder means sharing with both
If you send an invite to share a goal with another Westpac customer who has a joint savings account:
- Both account holders will receive the invite
- Only one has to accept the invite for both of them to view the shared goal.
Help when you need it
Things you should know
Westpac Life account: To open a Westpac Life account you need to be aged 18+ (if you’re under 18, check out our Bump savings account)
Westpac everyday account: To open a Westpac Life account, customers must hold a Westpac everyday account in the same name and be registered for Online and Phone Banking. Fees and charges may apply on the everyday account.
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