Westpac has launched card activation via mobile, making it the first Australian bank to enable customers to activate a new debit or credit card using their smartphone camera.

The new feature uses Optical Character Recognition embedded within the bank's mobile app. To activate a card, users simply scan the new card with their mobile camera, confirm the card details captured are correct, and tap to activate.

Mike Wood, chief information officer for Westpac Group Consumer Bank, said the activation via mobile is part of Westpac's ongoing commitment to harness innovative new technology to make customers' lives easier.

"We want to make mobile banking as easy and convenient as possible for our customers and that's why we have launched card activation by smartphone camera," he said. "The new feature is a timesaver for our customers who can activate their card when and where it suits them without the need to call customer service, visit a local branch or manually type in card numbers."

Westpac card activation by smartphone camera will be available for Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards and Debit MasterCard cards from this month.

Simultaneously, Westpac is introducing Quick Balance on the Apple Watch. By pairing their device with the Westpac Banking app Apple Watch users can view Westpac account balances with a quick swipe of the screen — and without having to log in to Westpac mobile banking.