Westpac's general manager of global transactional services Rachel Slade said the bank had been encouraged by what it was finding in its trial, with the solution enabling it to identify the payment originator for each individual payment, satisfy its anti-money laundering obligations and remove the risks associated with anonymity.

"The solution we've developed is faster than other alternatives in the market today, providing same or next-day payment. This technology could be very beneficial to all Australians, providing a low-cost and fast method of sending low-value payments overseas," Ms Slade said.

Ripple is often spoken about in the same way as bitcoin, despite having crucial differences. Having revealed CBA's Ripple trials, the bank's chief information officer David Whiteing also said it was making plans to embrace cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in the future.

More caution with bitcoin

Executives at big four banking rivals are still adopting a more cautious stance on the future acceptance of bitcoin in the mainstream economy, pointing to the fact that it remains unregulated and fraught with risks related to money laundering.

Westpac’s general manager of global transactional services Rachel Slade says the bank had been encouraged by what it was finding in its trial with Ripple technology. Tamara Voninski

Ms Slade said Westpac was continually evaluating new technologies and capabilities such as bitcoin and the blockchain ledger that underpins it. However, she said Westpac's interest in bitcoin remained a "watching brief".

"The banking of cryptocurrency is technically feasible, though we don't have that capability today," she said.


Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for ANZ said it was also closely watching regulatory developments in order to ensure it could offer the latest payment technologies, while managing risk and meeting regulatory obligations.

"Regulators globally are currently reviewing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to better understand the technology and possible implications, and we would need to see the outcomes of any review before confirming future plans," she said.

National Australia Bank said its position on bitcoin remained unchanged, in that it does not trade in unregulated currencies.

Chief executive of its online-only bank UBank, Lee Hatton said she couldn't trust it as a currency without regulations, but was comfortable with it as a concept for the future.

"If it was regulated then anything becomes possible. We have foreign currency accounts, and you could view that similarly to adding a bitcoin account," Ms Hatton said.

"But you have to legitimise it, and I think that is a long way to go, I don't think there will be a quick turnaround at all."