National Australia Bank joins boycott of crypto exchanges and cites scams

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Another Big Four bank in Australia said it would block certain cryptocurrency platforms, citing high levels of scam risk in the industry.

On July 17, National Australia Bank (NAB) officially announced a set of new measures to protect customers from fraud as part of its bank-wide scam strategy.

In addition to stopping millions of payments between March and July 2023, NAB will also introduce blocks on certain cryptocurrency platforms to protect customers from scams.

NAB did not specify the names of the cryptocurrency exchanges that are expected to face blockages from the bank. NAB Director for Group Investigations and Fraud Chris Sheehan only mentioned that the new blocks will affect high-risk platforms where scams are more prevalent.

Sheehan noted:

These scammers are part of transnational organized criminal groups. Increasingly, they saw them using cryptocurrency platforms to send stolen funds quickly and often overseas.

According to local reports, Sheehan hinted that crypto blocks from NABs could affect the Binance crypto exchange. Our approach will be consistent with the rest of the industry, the executive reportedly said. In recent months, other Australian Big Four banks, including Westpac and Commonwealth Bank, have also reportedly blocked payments to Binance.

NAB and Binance did not immediately respond to Cointelegraphs’ request for comment. This article will be updated pending new information.

Related: Binance Australia Offices Reportedly Searched by Local Regulator

In the announcement, NAB continued to reiterate the growing narrative from local banks alleging that nearly 50% of fraudulent funds reported in Australia are crypto-related.

More broadly, cryptocurrency scams are one of the fastest growing security threats, with Australians losing more than $221 million to them last year, according to the NBA statement. The authority also argued that 40% of Australians are extremely willing to see payments take longer if they were better protected from scammers.

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