Internet Banking FAQs

To register for the Geelong Bank Online Internet Banking service simply log on to www.geelongbank.com.au and download an application form or contact any Geelong Bank Member Service Centre. You must complete the registration form and return it to Geelong Bank PO Box 1130, Geelong, Victoria, 3220 or bring it into Geelong Bank, 107 Gheringhap Street, Geelong or email to info@geelongbank.com.au

Downloading the application form: If your web browser is configured to display Acrobat documents it will display the application form, which you can print, complete and send to Geelong Bank as above. If your browser is not configured for this you will see a dialogue box asking if you would like to save the file. Click 'SAVE' and select a location, then re-open the file whilst from Acrobat Reader and then print, complete and send to Geelong Bank as above. We will contact you within 48 hours of receiving your application form to advise you of your temporary password.

After filling in your application form to join Geelong Bank Online, you will receive an email from us confirming your application, usually within 48 hours. Then log in to Geelong Bank Online, and key in your member number and temporary password.

Geelong Bank Online will allow three login attempts before cancelling access. Contact 1300 361 555 for further information.

If the system rejects your password here are some rules to create a successful password:

  • Passwords must be at least 5 characters long and no more than 12 characters.
  • They cannot consist only of letters of the alphabet and must contain at least 1 number.
  • They cannot have any blanks, or spaces, embedded in them.

If your Member Number and password are not being accepted the most likely reason is that you have typed your user name or password incorrectly. You must type your password exactly as you did when you changed it. Check your Number Lock Key! For more information about passwords please refer to the Question "Sometimes the service rejects what I have chosen as my new password. Why is that?"

Another reason could be that your browser's Internet Options or Preferences settings do not allow acceptance of cookies. For more information about cookies please click the Browser Requirements hyperlink on the login screen to refer Browser Requirements information.

Geelong Bank Online will allow three login attempts before cancelling access. Contact 1300 361 555 for further information.

If you see a blank white screen after login at this stage the system is 'thinking' and gathering your member details. A loading screen will appear shortly, followed by your Account Summary details. During times of heavy network traffic you may need to allow a few minutes for this to display. We apologise for any inconvenience.

If the boxes clear when entering your member number and password then click the Sign In button, there may not be a problem. When you enter your details the screen clears momentarily for privacy and security reasons. The Internet banking system should appear at your “Welcome Page” within 10 seconds. Alternatively, if the screen seems to freeze then your browser might not have the high level of security encryption required to access online banking. For more information click the Browser hyperlink on the Geelong Bank website information screen.

If you need to scroll down to see the full screen on each option this may be because your display settings are set to a resolution of less than 800 x 600. You can check these via the "Control Panel" display settings if you are using a Microsoft Windows operating system. If you are unsure of how to check or modify your display settings please contact your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC.

This may also occur because you have added a toolbar to the window display. If you are unsure of how to check this, please contact your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC.

If some boxes or buttons on your browser's window are not displayed correctly your PC could be running out of assigned memory. Close down some other applications you have open, to free up memory. Your display settings may not be correct for your monitor, or you may not be using the correct driver for your monitor. Please contact your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC.

A transaction list is a list of all your transactions over a period of time that you select. It is similar to a statement. (Note: This account transaction list does not constitute the account statement Geelong Bank is required to issue to you in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to your account.)

You can print a list of your transactions over a period of time that you select, up to 12 months previously. You can also download your transaction history to a variety of money managing software packages. You will need to access the print icon in your toolbar or your browser to print transaction lists and/or statements as opposed to using a ‘print' button on the web page. Please see the ‘printing tips' section of our website for more information on printing from Geelong Bank Online.

A: If the calendar you use to select dates for Transaction History or Download Transactions inserts year 2100 instead of 2000 it's most probable your PC is not Y2K compliant. Either ask your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC to check it for Y2K compliance, or type the date in the To Date and From Date boxes instead of using the calendar facility.

To improve our service to Members and in an effort to reduce our environmental impact and costs associated with sending statements we encourage you to register for eStatements.  This means quicker delivery of your statements and an ongoing record of your activity within our internet banking facility.

By registering for eStatements you will have convenient access to your statements online.  First you must be registered for Online Banking.  Register for Online Banking here.

If you already have Internet Banking simply log in and from the menu:

  • Select ‘Account Options’; then
  • Online Statement Options;
  • Choose the accounts for eStatements; and
  • Answer the Declaration

You will receive an email when your eStatements are available.

If you load a future BPAY® payment Geelong Bank Online will attempt to debit the money three times. If sufficient funds are not available after the third attempt, dishonour fees may apply.

The cut off time for BPAY payments that must be made today must be made before 4.30pm (Eastern Standard Time) on a business day will be forwarded on the same day. Payments made after this time will be forwarded on the next working day.

To schedule a regular BPAY payment:

  1. Select the account from which the payment is to be made, and enter the payment details.
  2. Choose a Frequency other than 'Once only' from the Frequency drop-down list, for example, "Weekly". Different fields will be dynamically displayed on the screen. Note: If the Frequency field does not display, then we have not enabled the regular payment feature at this stage.
  3. Enter, or click the calendar icon in the Commencement Date field to define the date the first payment is to be made.
  4. Enter the number of payments to be made for your regular transfer in the Number of Payments field (this is inclusive of the first payment), OR you may leave this field blank for an ongoing payment.

To schedule a 'once only' BPAY payment to be made in the future you need to use the BPAY Payments screen to do this.

  1. Define the accounts to and from which the payment is to be made, the transfer amount, and the frequency of the payment. If you choose a frequency other than 'Once only' from the Frequency drop-down list different fields will be dynamically displayed on the screen. Note: If the Frequency field does not display, then we have not enabled the regular payment feature at this stage.
  2. Click the calendar icon and select the date the payment is to be made.

If you receive a message saying "my Customer Reference Number is invalid" please check your bill to ensure you have entered the number correctly. Ensure you have not entered any spaces between the numbers. If you still receive the message, please contact the payee and check the details.

BPAY payments can only be used to pay bills bearing the BPAY logo.  If you receive a message saying "my biller number is invalid" please check your bill to ensure the logo appears. Also, please check your bill to ensure you have entered the biller number correctly.

You can check that a BPAY payment has been processed from your account by viewing transaction details using the Transaction History option (see “Transactions” section of this document”. When you use this option, details of your BPAY payments will appear along with any other transactions you have made. Select the Transaction History sub menu item from the Accounts menu to display this option. Refer to 'How can I check all the transactions that I have made during a certain period of time?' for more information.

If your BPAY payment hasn't gone through, this can happen if you did not click the Yes button on the BPAY - Confirmation screen. Cleared funds must be available in your nominated account for the payment to be made. If you have scheduled a payment to be made in the future, you must ensure that there are sufficient funds in your account to cover the payment on the day before the payment is due.

If you make a mistake with a future dated payment or want to cancel it:

  1. Click on the Future Payments button in the BPAY option. All future dated payments are listed. You now have the option to view, modify or cancel a future dated payment. Note: If the Future Payments button is not displayed you do not have any future payments entered via Geelong Bank Online
  2. Click the Modify hyperlink to view or modify details of a future dated payment.
  3. Click the Delete hyperlink to delete, and therefore cancel a future dated payment. After you click the hyperlink you will be asked to confirm the deletion.

If you cancel your Geelong Bank Online access you will need to cancel any loaded BPAY® payments before requesting cancellation of your online banking access.

If the password your selected isn't working make sure you are entering the password as you registered when you changed your password when accessing Geelong Bank Online for the first time. You only get three attempts before the system will lock you out, whereby you will need to contact Geelong Bank 1300 361 555 during business hours to reset your password.

If you have tried to download Adobe Acrobat Reader and it displayed a message 'corrupt file' your PC may be timing out before the download is complete. Try one more time. If this download is not successful, you can obtain the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from a computer store at a relatively cheap price. Adobe Acrobat is a popular program for many Internet related documents and as such will certainly come in handy when downloading documents from other Internet sites.

When viewing interest on your accounts, there are two boxes with similar information.  The top box shows interest for the coming financial year and the bottom box shows interest for the previous financial year.

If you click on the Geelong Bank Online icon on the Geelong Bank website a get a web page with 'old browser detected' on it, and you have tried using Internet Explorer as well as Netscape, Geelong Bank Online requires the latest web-browser technology – either Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or Netscape 6.2. Follow the links on the page to download the latest free version.

You can gain access to Geelong Bank Online overseas as long as you have Internet access and remember your member number and password, you can access all Geelong Bank Online functions from anywhere in the world. Please ensure that you maintain strict control over your password details. In addition, ensure that the PC you are using has the latest virus protection and is secure.

Geelong Bank Online will time out after 10 minutes of inactivity on your PC. We recommend that you never leave your Internet banking site open if you leave the computer you are working on. Log out of Geelong Bank Online and re-enter at a later time if required.

If you receive a display with the message "System is not available" we sometimes perform housekeeping functions on the Internet server. These only take a couple of minutes but can interrupt service while they are in progress. We advise you to wait a couple of minutes until the system is available, or to close down your browser, wait a moment and try again. If problems persist please contact us.

Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator should be used to access the internet banking service. Netscape Navigator is part of the Netscape Communicator application package. Full production release versions of these products must be used - never use beta versions.

The minimum version numbers of these browsers that you should use to access the internet banking service are Internet Explorer 5.01 and later or Netscape v6.2 and later. Do not use lower versions of the browsers than those stated. Amongst other things, they may not be able to implement 128-bit encryption successfully.

Always use the 128-bit encryption version of these browsers. Take care when downloading them as the version number may be the same for both the strong and weak encryption versions of these browsers.

Use your browser's Help function, or contact Microsoft or Netscape Communications, if you are unsure of your browser's current version number or whether your version supports 128-bit encryption outside the United States of America.

To find out what the version number of your browser is, the browsers display their version in a box as they load on your PC. Alternatively Click on Help in the menu bar of the browser and then click on About. The version number and level of encryption security (Cipher Strength) will then be displayed. If it is 40-bit or 56-bit, you will need to upgrade your browser.

Microsoft Internet Explorer users can do this through Microsoft's Download Center web page. Please note this will take some time as the browser program and add-ons can be quite large. We encourage you to regularly check for browser (and operating system) updates to keep up with security improvements. Refer to Microsoft's Windows Update web page for more information.
If you are unsure of how to do this, please contact your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC.

Netscape users need to be online to check their level of encryption - click on Help, then Software Updates. Please note that version 6 of Netscape is currently incompatible with the Online Banking program. Also see message below for Netscape users.

It is not possible for us to define the particular browser settings for all types and versions of internet browsers, we suggest that the browser you use should:

  • have 128-bit encryption security
  • enable acceptance of cookies,
  • enable Javascript and SSL3 security,
  • screen settings at 800 x 600.

These are normally included as your browser's default settings and can be checked by selecting Tools, Internet Options.

We recommend that you disable any settings your browser may have for automatic completion of names and passwords. Never accept any offer from your browser to save or remember your password.

If you are unsure of how to check or alter these settings, please contact your PC maintenance service or the dealer from whom you purchased the PC or the organisation from whom you obtained the browser.

Your browser cache is where the browser stores pages it has received over the internet. It does this so that it can speed up your internet sessions by only downloading files that have changed.

To clear your browser's cache we suggest you consult your browser's Help function. If you cannot find out how to clear your browser's cache there, please contact either your PC maintenance service, the dealer from whom you purchased the PC or the organisation from whom you obtained the browser.

Cookies are small data packets that can be stored on your computer by an application you are interacting with over the internet. We use cookies to monitor the state of our server's connection with your computer.

To use our application your browser must be instructed to accept cookies. Your browser may be set to do this already, in which case you may be unaware that cookies are being exchanged between our computers. If not, you will probably receive messages from your browser asking whether you want to accept cookies.

Consult your browser's Help facility to find out how to change your browser's settings to accept cookies. At the end of your session our application always removes any cookies we have placed on your PC. Be assured we do not use cookies for any purpose other than to monitor the status and integrity of your current session.