Australia's Top Bank Halts Payments to Selected Crypto Exchanges

In a proactive move to enhance customer safety, the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) today (Thursday) announced it has implemented new measures aimed at protecting customers from fraudulent activities tied to cryptocurrency exchanges.

In practice, this means that the bank will be able to block some outgoing transfers to selected cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the institution has not specified which platforms may be specifically concerned.

Australian Bank to Block Some Crypto Payments

In an attempt to minimize scam risks, from today onwards, the bank will decline or hold certain payments to crypto exchanges for 24 hours. In addition, the CBA plans to impose an AUD 10,000 limit per calendar month on customer payments towards cryptocurrency exchanges where it can ascertain that the payments are intended for cryptocurrency purchases.

These actions are part of an array of initiatives intended to help customers mitigate the risks associated with victims falling for scams.

James Roberts, the General Manager of Group Fraud Management Services at Commonwealth Bank, acknowledged consumers' rising interest in cryptos and warned of global scammers exploiting this trend.

“With the incidences of scams increasing and in many cases customers suffering significant losses from being scammed, the introduction of 24 hour holds, declines and limits on outbound payments to cryptocurrency exchanges will help reduce both the number of scams and the amount of money lost by customers,” Roberts commented.

The CBA will continue to monitor the effects of these scam response measures closely and will undertake continuous reviews of their effectiveness.

Australia Limits Access to Cryptocurrencies

A similar move was made last month by another of Australia's largest banks, Westpac. It announced that it would block some cryptocurrency payments in order to limit customer losses. However, like the CBA, it did not specify which exchanges might be involved.

These decisions follow Binance Australia's, the local branch of one of the largest digital assets exchanges in the world, announcement that customers would lose access to deposits and withdrawals in AUD after the payment company, Cuscal stopped providing its service.

Before the final date of deposit blocking, investors were panic-selling their Bitcoins on the Australian platform, which made them available at up to 20% cheaper than on competing exchanges.

Binance is also facing challenges in the United States. This week, US regulators have initiated a lawsuit against the platform, alleging that it has manipulated trade volumes to appear higher than they truly are. A distinct lawsuit is addressing the issue of offering financial instruments that bear the characteristics of securities without appropriate regulations.