Westpac caps crypto exchange payments at A$10,000 a month from 1 December

Westpac customers will be able to send no more than A$10,000 a month to cryptocurrency exchanges under a payment policy the Australian bank has set to take effect on 1 December, with no exemptions and no route to a higher limit.

The cap is cumulative across a customer's relevant accounts and payment methods, which the bank's policy lists as online banking, the Westpac App, credit cards and debit cards. Once a customer's payments to identified exchanges reach A$10,000 in a calendar month, Westpac may reject further eligible payments until the next month begins. Joint account holders each get their own A$10,000 allowance, though payments made through the joint account count towards the holder's total.

Westpac said it will also stop supporting in-branch payments it reasonably identifies as going to crypto exchanges from the same date, ending branch handling of those transfers alongside the online and card limit. The bank rules out both exemptions and increases to the monthly allowance, so a customer planning a larger exchange payment faces the same ceiling even if they ask for a higher limit.

The policy's reach depends on Westpac identifying an exchange payment when it is made, meaning some exchanges and particular payment details accepted by individual exchanges may fall outside it, and the covered products and methods can change over time. Westpac expressly acknowledges that payments above A$10,000 may still occur despite the limit, and enforcement remains discretionary. Withdrawals from exchanges into Westpac accounts are unchanged, though the bank advises customers to check any restrictions the exchange itself imposes.

Westpac frames the measure as a response to cryptocurrency scam risks. In a release dated 18 May 2023, the bank said it had begun trials of protections for some cryptocurrency payments, with blocks to be rolled out in phases over the following weeks.