Apple Pay on Apple Watch
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it will apply stricter oversight to big tech payment systems like Apple Pay.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently fined Apple and Goldman Sachs $90 million over disputed Apple Card payments. But it has long been argued that digital wallet systems like Apple Pay should be regulated like credit cards and banks.
According to ReutersThe CFPB said it will now increase its oversight of Big Tech companies. The CFPB did not name the company, but outlined its plans for oversight of payment apps and platforms.
“Digital payments have moved from a novelty to a necessity, and our oversight must reflect this reality,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “These rules will help protect consumers’ privacy, prevent fraud, and prevent illegal account closures.”
The rules Chopra mentioned mark the point at which tech companies, whose digital wallets process more than 13 billion financial transactions annually, will face new oversight. This rule means Apple Pay is included, as are other Pays like Google Pay and Venmo.
Apple has yet to respond to the announcement in the United States, but the new rules are similar to those it previously opposed in Australia.
“Apple believes the proposed expansion… would increase regulatory burdens without net public benefit… and would lead to regulatory errors,” Apple said in October 2023. “It will stifle the dynamic innovation that has characterized Australia’s payments system in recent years.”
The CFPB ran a consultation process through which companies like Apple could present their claims, a process that was originally scheduled to conclude in early 2024. It is unclear whether there will be an extension or what the current schedule for enforcement of the rule is.
But because of the new Trump administration, the new oversight rules may never go into effect. The administration has previously accused the CFPB of overreach, so the agency may yet block this move.
