Apple Pay to Be Treated Like a Bank With Federal Scrutiny in the U.S.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has finalized a new rule that will bring Apple Pay and other major digital wallet services under the same oversight as banks.

apple pay feature dynamic island
The CFPB today announced that, effective 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register, digital payment platforms processing over 50 million annual transactions in U.S. dollars will be subject to federal supervision. ‌Apple Pay‌ is one of the most widely used digital wallets in the United States and falls squarely within this threshold.

The new rule will grant the CFPB powers to proactively examine ‌Apple Pay‌'s compliance with federal consumer financial laws, including privacy protection, fraud prevention, and account stability. The CFPB has highlighted privacy concerns, fraud risks, disruption caused by account closures, and consumer protection as key areas of focus in its supervision.

While the CFPB already had some enforcement authority over ‌Apple Pay‌, it previously relied on responding to violations or direct consumer complaints. The new regulation enables direct and ongoing scrutiny of internal operations, just like the oversight banks and credit unions face. Apple has not yet commented regarding the CFPB's finalized rule, but it did participate in the agency's consultation process, which considered input from stakeholders and financial technology companies.

The CFPB's move reflects a broader global trend toward regulating big tech's involvement in financial services. European regulators have similarly scrutinized ‌Apple Pay‌, including its restriction of near-field communication (NFC) to its devices, which raised antitrust concerns. In the United States, the CFPB's decision is part of an effort to ensure that tech companies offering financial services comply with the same rules as traditional institutions.

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Top Rated Comments

WarmWinterHat Avatar
19 weeks ago
Yes! Not that I have anything against Apple Pay (or Google Pay) but ANY financial intermediary between consumers
and consumers or consumers and business needs to be treated like a bank. No exceptions.

PayPal, for example, needs to have the ever-loving p**s regulated out of them.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
19 weeks ago

Tim just needs to book Mar-a-Lago for a couple of years and Trump will overturn this law with a single tweet
We’d be lucky if that’s the worst thing that will happen.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
19 weeks ago
Tim just needs to book Mar-a-Lago for a couple of years and Trump will overturn this law with a single tweet /s
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CapitalIdea Avatar
19 weeks ago
Apple will be fine. They don’t directly handle any money and fraud protections, account status and such are run through the banks themselves so all of that is in place. Apple has nothing to do with any of it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigBellyBelcher Avatar
19 weeks ago
About time but apparently CFPB is on the chopping block.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
19 weeks ago
Not all regulations are bad. Hopefully apple saw this coming years ago and has made strides to ensure its digital wallet is beyond reproach.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)