The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the largest bank in the country, announced Thursday it would block payments to certain cryptocurrency exchanges. The latest controls form part of “new measures to help protect customers from scam risks associated with making certain payments” to fraudulent platforms.
CBA to Block Payments to Crypto Exchanges
Effective June 8, CBA will decline or hold certain payments to cryptocurrency exchanges for up to 24 hours. In the near future, the bank said it would also be implementing a monthly limit of A$10,000 ($6,659) for customer payments to cryptocurrency exchanges.
James Roberts, CBA’s General Manager of Group Fraud Management Services, noted that consumers in cryptocurrencies have been growing rapidly. At the same time, fraudulent individuals are taking advantage of this trend by presenting themselves as genuine investment opportunities or by channeling funds into cryptocurrency exchanges.
While Roberts mentioned that the newly-introduced measures could not entirely eradicate the possibility of customers experiencing losses due to cryptocurrency exchange-related scams, he believes the measures form part of a comprehensive set of initiatives that aim to help customers shield themselves from becoming victims of fraudulent activity.
“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,” Mr. Roberts said.
The CBA stated that it would continue to closely monitor the effectiveness of its measures to respond to scams, which will be subject to periodic reviews.
Australian Banks Restrict Access to Crypto
The latest action follows a similar move made by Westpac, another leading bank in Australia, to block crypto payments in order to reduce customer scam losses.
Westpac’s decision came weeks after Binance Australia, the Australian unit of the largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, informed its customers that they would no longer have access to deposits and withdrawals in AUD as payment provider Cuscal discontinued its services.
