Lots of activity from the CFPB. It appointed new leaders for both Supervision and Enforcement, clarified the definition of a “Unauthorized Electronic Fund Transfer” to include consumers that are fraudulently induced to give up payment credentials or lose their credentials to a computer virus, and now it is using its investigative powers to understand what Big Tech does with all the payment data it collects:
“The consumer watchdog agency has asked for the major players in Big Tech to provide information on how they use payment data: Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, PayPal and Square will have to report in with details on the inner workings of their payment systems.
Additionally, Chinese tech platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay will be studied, though it is not clear how much cooperation will be expected from companies based in foreign countries.
The CFPB’s goal is to enhance consumer protections against privacy breaches, fraud and anticompetitive behavior. The move comes as the Democrats look to revive the consumer watchdog as an investigative tool, as part of ongoing efforts to check the power of Big Tech. The order comes from Rohit Chopra, new director of the CFPB and former Democrat-aligned commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The consumer watchdog has little power to directly regulate Big Tech, but has some latitude to request things like payment data in the interest of ensuring that endemic risks to consumers are not present.”
Overview by Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group
