National Australia Bank (NAB) has become the latest major bank in Australia to take action against certain cryptocurrency platforms due to the high risk of scams in the industry.
NAB announced a series of measures on July 17 as part of its “bank-wide scam strategy” to protect customers from fraud.
In addition to stopping millions of dollars in payments between March and July 2023, NAB will implement blocks on “some cryptocurrency platforms” to safeguard customers from scams.
While the specific exchanges were not mentioned, NAB’s executive for group investigations and fraud, Chris Sheehan, stated that the blocks would be imposed on “high-risk” platforms where scams are more prevalent.
Sheehan highlighted the involvement of organized transnational crime groups in cryptocurrency scams, explaining that these criminals are increasingly using cryptocurrency platforms to quickly send stolen funds overseas.
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It has been suggested that the cryptocurrency exchange Binance may be affected by NAB’s crypto blocks.
Sheehan indicated that NAB’s approach would align with the rest of the industry, following reports that other major Australian banks, including Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank, have already blocked payments to Binance.
Neither NAB nor Binance provided immediate comments in response to inquiries from Cointelegraph.
NAB reiterated the prevailing narrative among local banks, claiming that nearly 50% of scam funds reported in Australia are linked to cryptocurrency.
The bank emphasized that cryptocurrency scams pose one of the fastest-growing security threats, with Australians losing over $221 million to such scams last year.
In support of their measures, NAB cited a survey indicating that 40% of Australians are willing to accept slower payments if it means better protection against scammers.
As of now, NAB’s decision to block certain cryptocurrency platforms stands, but further information and updates are expected as the situation develops.
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