The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should continue to increase its oversight of “big tech” payment platforms until all consumers are protected at a consistent level, no matter the legal structure of the entity, the American Bankers Association said today in a joint letter with the Consumer Bankers Association and Credit Union National Association. In their comments, the associations noted the agency has recently taken a series of actions that indicate it is increasing scrutiny of tech platforms, including issuing a final rule to amend its procedural rule on supervision of nonbank entities based on risk factors. They urged the CFPB to continue that work.
“As we have previously stressed, and recent crypto events demonstrate, consumers can face appreciable risks when underregulated nonfinancial companies achieve significant scale as de facto financial intermediaries, including for payments,” the groups said. “Our members believe that regulators must move beyond monitoring nonbank payments markets and toward action that ensures nonbank payments do not develop into full-fledged shadow banking.”
