Binance Australia suspends AUD deposits

Binance Australia has hit a roadblock with Australian dollar (AUD) deposits following the withdrawal of support from its third-party payment provider. 

Shortly after the announcement, Australian banking giant Westpac banned customers from making payments to Binance.

Binance Australia announced that effective immediately, Australians cannot use PayID to deposit AUD into their Binance accounts. The crypto exchange also said it would confirm the impact on bank transfer withdrawals to its users.

The reason for the decision, according to Binance, was due to the platform’s third-party payment service provider, which stopped support for the crypto exchange. 

While Binance Australia does not mention the entity’s name, the firm said it was looking for an alternative external payment service provider. 

On the heels of Binance Australia’s announcement, Westpac, one of the big four banks in Australia, banned its customers from transacting with “high-risk” crypto exchanges like Binance, as reported by the Australian Financial Review. The ban comes after the bank’s data showed that scammers transferred their loot to overseas exchanges. 

“We’ve determined that high-risk exchanges are predominantly where scam money has ended up. Digital exchanges have a legitimate role, but we have blocked access to overseas exchanges that are used more frequently than others for scams.”

The bank launched its first trial of new security measures to protect customers from crypto scams. According to Westpac’s recent data, investment scams account for about 50% of scam losses, with a third of all payments directly transferred to a crypto exchange. 

Scott Collary, the bank’s group executive of customer services and technology, said that such funds moved to overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are difficult to trace. Collary also noted that the trial would target investment scams, which have had a “devastating impact” on its customers.

Binance facing regulatory pressure

The latest development joins a list of events that have affected Binance’s operations in Australia. In April, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) canceled the local entity’s derivatives license. Before the license was revoked, the ASIC reviewed Binance Australia’s derivatives business. 

Meanwhile, Australian users can still purchase crypto on Binance using their credit or debit cards, with the platform’s P2P marketplace functioning as usual. 

Binance continues to face regulatory pressure outside of Australia, especially in the United States.