The Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau (CFPB) has finalized a brand new rule that may deliver Apple Pay and different main digital pockets companies beneath the identical oversight as banks.
The CFPB in the present day introduced that, efficient 30 days after its publication within the Federal Register, digital fee platforms processing over 50 million annual transactions in U.S. {dollars} might be topic to federal supervision. Apple Pay is without doubt one of the most generally used digital wallets in america and falls squarely inside this threshold.
The brand new rule will grant the CFPB powers to proactively look at Apple Pay’s compliance with federal shopper monetary legal guidelines, together with privateness safety, fraud prevention, and account stability. The CFPB has highlighted privateness issues, fraud dangers, disruption brought on by account closures, and shopper safety as key areas of focus in its supervision.
Whereas the CFPB already had some enforcement authority over Apple Pay, it beforehand relied on responding to violations or direct shopper complaints. The brand new regulation allows direct and ongoing scrutiny of inside operations, similar to the oversight banks and credit score unions face. Apple has not but commented concerning the CFPB’s finalized rule, however it did take part within the company’s session course of, which thought of enter from stakeholders and monetary expertise corporations.
The CFPB’s transfer displays a broader world pattern towards regulating huge tech’s involvement in monetary companies. European regulators have equally scrutinized Apple Pay, together with its restriction of near-field communication (NFC) to its gadgets, which raised antitrust issues. In america, the CFPB’s choice is a part of an effort to make sure that tech corporations providing monetary companies adjust to the identical guidelines as conventional establishments.
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