Westpac's crypto-payment policy, effective Dec. 1, sets a cumulative monthly allowance of A$10,000 across a customer's relevant accounts and payment methods.
The bank's payment policy lists online banking, the Westpac App, credit cards and debit cards among the channels where the limit may apply. App transfers and card payments share the customer's cumulative allowance wherever Westpac applies the policy to those products and payment methods.
Once the cumulative amount reaches A$10,000 in a calendar month, Westpac may reject additional eligible payments to exchanges until the next month begins. The policy's cumulative design means a customer's payments across those relevant products contribute to the amount already used that month.
For joint accounts, each holder has a cumulative monthly limit of A$10,000 across their relevant products and payment methods. The allowance belongs to each holder and spans that customer's relevant accounts, including payments through a joint account and other covered products.
Westpac will apply a shared A$10,000 monthly limit across relevant accounts and payment channels to identified crypto exchanges.
Westpac says it will also stop supporting in-branch payments it reasonably identifies as going to cryptocurrency exchanges. This ends branch support for those identified exchange payments from that date, alongside the separately described monthly limit on relevant online and card payments.
Westpac rules out both exemptions and increases for the cumulative monthly limit. A customer planning a larger exchange payment faces that same cumulative monthly allowance under the bank's stated policy, including when requesting a higher limit.
Which crypto payments are covered
Westpac limits the policy's scope to exchanges it identifies when a payment is made. Coverage can exclude some exchanges and particular payment details accepted by individual exchanges, while the relevant products and methods can change over time.
Westpac expressly acknowledges that payments above A$10,000 may still occur, even with the cumulative limit set out in its policy. Enforcement remains discretionary, and its reach depends on the bank identifying an applicable exchange payment through a covered product and channel.
Westpac says withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchanges into its accounts remain unchanged, while customers should check any restrictions imposed by the exchange itself.
Westpac presents the measure as a response to cryptocurrency scam risks. In a May 18, 2023 release, it said trials of protections for some cryptocurrency payments had begun, with blocks to roll out in phases over the following weeks.