Australia's Bank of Bendigo has become the fourth-largest bank in the country to announce blocks for high-risk crypto payments, citing the need to protect its clients from investment fraud.
Australia's Bendigo Bank Blocks High-Risk Payments to Cryptocurrency Exchanges
The bank said in a statement today that it has implemented new rules on instant payments to crypto exchanges, adding some barriers to real payments.
The bank cited tackling fraudulent payments and increasing protections for its 2.3 million customers as reasons for the restrictions.
A Bendigo Bank spokesperson said in a statement that certain instant crypto transactions, which it describes as higher risk, will be blocked, but the bank has not disclosed further details at this time.
The spokesperson said it identified high-risk transactions using combinations but declined to comment on details. The bank did not disclose which exchanges would be affected by the changes it made.
Bendigo Bank's blockades followed similar actions by three of Australia's big four banks (Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac) in recent months.
In an interview prior to Bendigo Bank's latest announcement, Chainalysis's APAC Head of Policy Chengyi Ong warned that such actions would force Australia's crypto public to engage with offshore exchanges.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ong argued that such blocking will not prevent criminal actors from using other platforms, crypto or not, and uncertainty over banking access could also push crypto exchanges and users outside the jurisdiction of the authorities.
*Not investment advice.