Westpac caps monthly crypto exchange deposits at A$10,000 from December 1

Westpac, one of Australia’s largest banks, is capping what customers can send to cryptocurrency exchanges, which directly constrains how Australian users fund trading accounts. The policy starts December 1, and the bank offers no exemptions or increases.

• Westpac sets a cumulative A$10,000 monthly allowance for payments to identified crypto exchanges from December 1.
• Online banking, the Westpac App, credit cards and debit cards share the allowance wherever the policy applies.
• Westpac allows no exemptions or increases, yet acknowledges payments above A$10,000 may still occur and enforcement is discretionary.

• A$10,000 Monthly cap per customer, with no exemptions or increases offered
• Dec 1 Policy start date
• 4 Channels where the limit may apply, versus in-branch payments stopped outright
• May 18 2023 trial announcement, more than three years before this policy takes effect

Westpac will cap payments to cryptocurrency exchanges at a cumulative A$10,000 per customer each calendar month, starting December 1, CryptoSlate reported. The bank presents the measure as a response to cryptocurrency scam risks. It will also end branch support for payments it identifies as going to exchanges.

Westpac pools app, card and online payments under one A$10,000 monthly cap

Westpac’s payment policy names online banking, the Westpac App, credit cards and debit cards as channels where the limit may apply. Payments across those products count toward one shared allowance, so app transfers and card payments draw on the same A$10,000. Once a customer hits that total in a calendar month, Westpac may reject further eligible exchange payments until the next month begins.

On joint accounts, each holder carries a separate cumulative A$10,000 monthly limit. The allowance belongs to the individual and spans that person’s relevant products, including payments through a joint account.

Westpac rules out both exemptions and increases. A customer planning a larger exchange payment faces the same cumulative allowance, including when requesting a higher limit.

Westpac concedes payments above A$10,000 can still get through

The bank limits the policy’s scope to exchanges it identifies at the moment a payment is made. Coverage can exclude some exchanges and particular payment details accepted by individual exchanges. The relevant products and methods can also change over time.

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

The branch change covers payments Westpac reasonably identifies as going to cryptocurrency exchanges. It sits alongside the separately described monthly limit on relevant online and card payments. Customers who now pay exchanges at a branch lose that route from the same start date.

Exchange withdrawals into Westpac accounts stay unchanged after December 1

Westpac says withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchanges into its accounts remain unchanged. It advises customers to check any restrictions imposed by the exchange itself. The cap therefore applies only to money moving toward exchanges.

The bank has used scam risk as its rationale before. In a May 18, 2023 release, Westpac said trials of protections for some cryptocurrency payments had begun, with blocks to roll out in phases over the following weeks.

The reporting quotes only Westpac’s own policy. Exchanges and customer groups are not represented, so their positions on the cap are not part of the record.

The BlockWest read. For active traders and businesses that fund exchange accounts through Westpac, the cap is a hard monthly ceiling at one bank. Larger buyers will need to plan around it, whether by spreading payments across months or using other banking relationships. We read the discretionary enforcement as the bank keeping room to adjust while it tests how well it can identify exchange flows.

The first test comes on December 1, when the A$10,000 cap and the end of identified in-branch exchange payments take effect. Westpac has not said how it will change the list of covered exchanges and methods, which it says can shift over time. Whether exchanges issue their own guidance for

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