PayPal stablecoin draws pushback, Santander warns of 'love scams'

A member of the European Central Bank's board used PayPal's stablecoin as a reason to argue for a central bank digital currency in the European Union.  In an address to a European Parliament finance committee, ECB board member Fabio Panetta said private sector digital coins could harm competitive balance. "Private providers of payment services, including PayPal, have no incentive to limit the take-up of their stablecoins or the range of services they provide. Quite the opposite: their objective is to expand their customer base and gain market share," Panetta said, adding that while the market entry of big technology firms or other large payment providers may initially promote innovation, competition could be severely hampered if they attain a monopolistic position. "This would not be the case with a digital euro. A digital euro would be introduced by public authorities, under a European regulatory framework. It would pay due attention to orderly adjustments in the financial sector while offering payment service providers a platform for innovations with pan-euro area reach," Panetta said. U.S. regulators are also expected to examine PayPal's potential impact on the U.S. payments market. While there are a handful of CBDCs, they are mostly in smaller markets. Most larger economies, such as the U.S., U.K. and EU are still debating digitizing their currencies. PayPal did not provide comment by deadline. —John Adams 

Swiss regulators have written rules that will create higher anti-money-laundering standards than the European Union. The regulations would increase liability for banks, consultants and lawyers with the intent of pressuring them to monitor risks stemming from their operations and clients. The government is also attempting to bolster oversight of trusts and other legal entities that manage funds that have ties to the country's banks. The rules will be presented to Switzerland's parliament in early 2024. The Swiss government is trying to counter the image that the country is a haven for criminals to hide money, according to Reuters. While the country exchanges bank information with regulators in more than 100 countries, the corporate ownership of some accounts and beneficiaries are concealed, often resulting in complaints from foreign regulators. —John Adams  

Santander is collaborating with U.K. dating expert Anna Williamson to offer candy that has phrases crooks use to trick consumers into a banking scam. Language such as "I'll pay u back," "my funds are frozen," and "U know me" are often used in the U.K. to get people to send money to an account that is tied to a criminal or a fraudulent organization. Santander also released research that found 31% of U.K. consumers have been targeted by a scammer who used romance as part of the lure, with total losses exceeding $40 million in 2022. And 83% of victims said the alluring language used by the scammer was the main factor in falling for the scam. In the U.S. romance scams cost more than $500 million yearly, according to the Federal Trade Commission. —John Adams