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Westpac Banking Corporation is poised to axe more than 400 jobs and send another 150 offshore in the latest round of job cuts at the big banks.

Australia's second biggest bank on Thursday briefed workers about the 410 job cuts and positions it will relocate to India as part of a group-wide restructure.

"We are commencing consultation with a number of our employees around changes to Westpac," a Westpac spokeswoman said.

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) told AAP 150 positions would be moved to Bangalore, India, and it feared more cuts were on the cards.

The roles affected are mostly back office, non-executive support roles, but there will be a decline in the bank's overall standard of customer service, FSU national secretary Leon Carter said.

"They're saying this will be the most significant announcement they'll make this year but there's no guarantee that it's the last one," Mr Carter said.

"Westpac continues to make a multi billion-dollar profit and has the capacity, and we say the obligation, to invest in and protect Australian jobs not continue to sacrifice them on the alter of profit."

Westpac's acting head of Australian financial services Peter Hanlon told The Australian's website that the cuts were necessary due to the slowdown in business and consumer activity, as well as the lull in housing credit demand.

The bank will shift 150 jobs to its third party provider in Bangalore, along with 28 IT management roles in its wholly owned BT Financial Group and Westpac Institutional Bank.

Workers in India are usually paid between one-third and a half the wage of Australian workers in comparable jobs.

Westpac also is reviewing all business units excluding its New Zealand operations.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that despite the job cuts at Westpac, Australia's financial services sector had a bright future.

Ms Gillard said the growing middle class in China, India and other regional countries would ensure a strong future for financial services.

"That burgeoning new middle class will want sophisticated financial services that can be provided by us right here in Australia," she told reporters in Melbourne.

Westpac's job cuts came amid cuts at other banks.

Earlier this week Suncorp Group said it would shift 77 jobs offshore to Bangalore, while ANZ Banking Group in January announced 131 employees in Victoria would lose their jobs.

Several hundred more jobs will be shed from the Melbourne-based lender in the next six months, ANZ's chief of Australian operations Phil Chronican said at the time.

Westpac posted a 10 per cent jump in annual net profit to $6.99 billion in fiscal 2011, with salaries and other staff expenses up three per cent on a year earlier.

It also made 302 roles redundant through 10 restructures in 2011, according to FSU figures.

Westpac's permanent headcount stood at 33,898 at September 30, 2011, down 1,157 from a year earlier.

Another 3,908 temporary workers were employed, along with 94 employees working on the integration of Westpac and St George Bank.

That took the bank's total headcount to 37,712, a drop of 767 on a year earlier.

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Westpac cuts 410 jobs, sends 150 to India