Big Tech firms begin fight back over regulatory oversight of digital wallets

In November, the Bureau published a proposed rule that would see non-bank financial companies that handle more than five million transactions per year face the same rules as large banks and credit unions.

The rule would cover around 17 companies, most notably Google, Apple, PayPal and CashApp operator Block. These firms would have to adhere to applicable funds transfer, privacy, and other consumer protection laws.

In its written response, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) argues that the current regulatory proposal “fails to clearly identify a specific risk it seeks to address and merely identifies the possibility of ‘new risks’ from ‘new product offerings’ without explicitly stating what those risks might be.”

CCIA vice president of global competition and regulatory policy Krisztian Katona, comments: “It’s worth keeping in mind as the CFPB considers further regulations on digital services that consumer feedback seems to point towards a general satisfaction with payment services, which suggests the absence of a market failure in the sector.

“We would urge regulators to tailor new regulations to specific problems they want to fix as broad, overly burdensome or heavy-handed digital regulation could significantly hinder new startups in this industry, and harm U.S. innovation and economic growth.”