Westpac, one of Australia's four major banks, will cap customer deposits to cryptocurrency exchanges at a cumulative A$10,000 per calendar month under a payment policy that takes effect on Dec. 1.

The limit spans a customer's relevant accounts and payment methods. The bank's policy lists online banking, the Westpac App, credit cards and debit cards among the channels where the cap may apply. App transfers and card payments draw on the same cumulative allowance wherever Westpac applies the policy to those products and payment methods.

Once the cumulative amount reaches A$10,000 within a calendar month, Westpac may reject additional eligible payments to exchanges until the next month begins. The policy's cumulative design means payments made across those relevant products count toward the amount already used in that month.

Joint accounts and branch payments

For joint accounts, each holder carries a cumulative monthly limit of A$10,000 across their relevant products and payment methods. The allowance belongs to each individual holder and spans that customer's relevant accounts, including payments made through a joint account and other covered products.

Westpac will also stop supporting in-branch payments it reasonably identifies as going to cryptocurrency exchanges. The change ends branch support for identified exchange payments from the same date, alongside the separately described monthly limit on relevant online and card payments.

The bank has ruled out both exemptions and increases to the cumulative monthly limit. A customer planning a larger exchange payment faces the same cumulative monthly allowance under the stated policy, including when requesting a higher limit.

Scope of coverage

Westpac limits the policy's scope to exchanges it identifies at the time a payment is made. Coverage can exclude some exchanges and particular payment details accepted by individual exchanges, and the relevant products and payment methods can change over time. Australia's Treasury has separately been consulting on a licensing framework for crypto asset service providers, including exchanges, a process that could bring standardized oversight to a sector that banks currently police payment by payment.

The bank expressly acknowledges that payments above A$10,000 may still occur despite the cumulative limit set out in its policy. Enforcement remains discretionary, and its reach depends on Westpac identifying an applicable exchange payment through a covered product and channel.

Withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchanges into Westpac accounts remain unchanged, though customers should check any restrictions imposed by the exchange itself.

Westpac presents the measure as a response to cryptocurrency scam risks. Investment scams have ranked as the costliest category in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's scam-loss reporting, and NAB, another of the country's major banks, has likewise announced blocks on payments to exchanges it deems higher-risk. In a May 18, 2023 release, the bank said trials of protections for some cryptocurrency payments had begun, with blocks to roll out in phases over the following weeks.