Starling Bank chief warns that cryptocurrencies threaten payment systems

Digital currencies pose a threat to the security of the global payments infrastructure. This was stated by Starling Bank founder and CEO Anne Boden, according to CNBC.

During the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, the organisation’s CEO noted that many cryptocurrency wallets are “directly connected to payment schemes”.

“This is very dangerous,” Boden emphasised.

The Starling Bank CEO also warned about fraud in the industry, saying that protecting customers takes longer than promoting cryptocurrencies.

Boden doubted that Starling would begin offering digital assets in the next couple of years. She stressed that industry-related firms have a lot to catch up on in the fight against money laundering.

In March 2021, the UK-based Starling Bank closed a Series D funding round of £272 million ($341.6 million) led by Fidelity. In April the organisation raised £50 million ($62.8 million) from Goldman Sachs.

In late May of that year, Starling Bank temporarily barred customers from depositing funds to cryptocurrency exchanges. The restrictions were promised to be lifted after testing a new system for preventing financial crime.

In November 2021, Mastercard announced the launch of debit, credit and prepaid payment cards linked to Bitcoin in the Asia-Pacific region.

In January 2022, Mastercard announced a collaboration with the Bitcoin exchange Coinbase. As part of the joint initiative, the companies planned to enable NFT purchases with bank cards.

In June, PayPal opened the ability to transfer cryptocurrencies between accounts, as well as to withdraw them to external wallets.

Subscribe to ForkLog’s YouTube channel!