Notice2022-24214
Notice and Request for Comment Regarding the CFPB's Inquiry Into Big Tech Payment Platforms
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 7, 2022
Issuing agencies
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Abstract
On October 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau or CFPB) ordered six large technology companies operating payments systems in the United States to provide information about certain of their business practices. Accompanying the orders, the Director of the Bureau issued a statement and invited interested parties to submit comments to inform the Bureau's inquiry. The statement and request for comment was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021, in a document titled, "Notice and Request for Comment Regarding the CFPB's Inquiry into Big Tech Payment Platforms." The Bureau has determined that it is appropriate to re-open the docket for 30 days from Federal Register publication and add two questions.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 214 (Monday, November 7, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 214 (Monday, November 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67023-67024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24214]
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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
[Docket No. CFPB-2021-0017]
Notice and Request for Comment Regarding the CFPB's Inquiry Into
Big Tech Payment Platforms
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Notice; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: On October 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(Bureau or CFPB) ordered six large technology companies operating
payments systems in the United States to provide information about
certain of their business practices. Accompanying the orders, the
Director of the Bureau issued a statement and invited interested
parties to submit comments to inform the Bureau's inquiry. The
statement and request for comment was published in the Federal Register
on November 5, 2021, in a document titled, ``Notice and Request for
Comment Regarding the CFPB's Inquiry into Big Tech Payment Platforms.''
The Bureau has determined that it is appropriate to re-open the docket
for 30 days from Federal Register publication and add two questions.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before December 7, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB-2021-
0017, by any of the following methods:
<bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
<bullet> Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9ad8f3fdcefff9f2cafbe3f7fff4eee9d3f4ebeff3e8e3daf9fceaf8b4fdf5ec"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="62200b053607010a32031b0f070c16112b0c13170b101b22010412004c050d14">[email protected]</span></a>. Include Docket No.
CFPB-2021-0017 in the subject line of the message.
<bullet> Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake--Statement into
Big Tech Payment Platforms, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, c/o
Legal Division Docket Manager, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Bureau is
subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments
electronically.
Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of
comments. Please note the number of the topic on which you are
commenting at the top of each response (you do not need to address all
topics). All submissions should include document title and docket
number. In general, all comments received will be posted without change
to <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>. All comments, including attachments and
other supporting materials, will become part of the public record and
subject to public disclosure. Proprietary information or sensitive
personal information, such as account numbers or Social Security
numbers, or names of other individuals, should not be included.
Comments will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Zirkle, Program Manager for
Payments & Deposits, (202) 435-7505. If you require this document in an
alternative electronic format, please contact
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d89b9e889a8799bbbbbdababb1bab1b4b1aca198bbbea8baf6bfb7ae"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c7848197859886a4a4a2b4b4aea5aeabaeb3be87a4a1b7a5e9a0a8b1">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 21, 2021, the CFPB ordered six
large technology companies operating payments systems in the United
States to provide information about certain of their business
practices. Accompanying the orders, the Director of the Bureau issued a
statement and invited interested parties to submit comments to inform
the inquiry. The statement and request for comment were published in
the Federal Register on November 5, 2021,\1\ in a document titled
``Notice and Request for Comment
[[Page 67024]]
Regarding the CFPB's Inquiry into Big Tech Payment Platforms.''
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\1\ 86 FR 61182 (Nov. 5, 2021).
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The CFPB has determined that it is appropriate to re-open the
comment period to further inform the inquiry described by the Director
in his October 21, 2021 Statement:
Faster, friction-less, and cheaper payment systems offer
significant potential benefits to consumers, workers, their families,
and small businesses in the United States. For example, families can
send money to friends without delay, or to relatives overseas at lower
costs. Fast payment systems can also help small businesses succeed with
quicker transactions, lower cost, and more revenue conversion. And
faster settlement can reduce the need for families and businesses to
borrow.
But payments businesses are network businesses and can gain
tremendous scale and market power, potentially posing new risks and
undermining fair competition. Furthermore, knowing what we spend our
money on is a valuable source of data on consumer behavior. This data
can be monetized by companies that seek to profit from behavioral
targeting, particularly around advertising and e-commerce. That many
Big Tech companies aspire to grow in this space only heightens these
concerns.
In China, we can already see the long-term implications of these
forces. Alipay and WeChat Pay are deeply imbedded into the lives of the
Chinese public, combining messaging, e-commerce and payment
functionality into super-apps. In such a market, consumers have little
choice but to use these apps and little market power to shape how their
data is used.
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered
six technology platforms offering payment services to turn over
information about their products, plans and practices when it comes to
payments. The orders were issued to Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon,
Square, and PayPal. The CFPB will also study the practices of the
Chinese tech giants that offer payments services, such as WeChat Pay
and Alipay.
Congress has tasked the CFPB with ensuring that markets for
consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and
competitive. To that end, it has authorized the CFPB to require
participants in the marketplace to provide information that help the
Bureau monitor risks to consumers and to publish aggregated findings
that are in the public interest.
Little is known publicly about how Big Tech companies will exploit
their payments platforms. For example, will the operators engage in
invasive financial surveillance and combine the data they collect on
consumers with their geolocation and browsing data? \2\ Will they in
turn use this data to deepen behavioral advertising, engage in price
discrimination, or sell to third parties?
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\2\ In 2019, I joined global privacy regulators to seek
information about Facebook's Libra project. At the time, the company
failed to substantively respond. See <a href="https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/speeches/2019/s-d_190805/">https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-news/speeches/2019/s-d_190805/</a>.
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Will these companies operate their payment platforms in a manner
that interferes with fair, transparent, and competitive markets? Will
the payment platforms be truly neutral, or will they use their scale to
extract rents from market participants? Will small businesses feel
coerced into participating in the payment platform out of fear of being
suppressed or hidden in search or product listings? If these tech
companies enter a market that competes with other providers on the
platform, will these providers be removed or otherwise disadvantaged?
What factors will these tech companies use when disqualifying or
delisting an individual or business from participating on the platform?
Finally, how will these payment platforms ensure that key consumer
protections are adhered to? How effectively do they manage complaints,
disputes and errors? Are they sufficiently staffed to ensure adequate
steps are taken to address consumer protection and provide responsive
customer service when things go wrong? \3\
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\3\ The law currently provides for a number of safeguards in the
payments sector, including but not limited to the Electronic Fund
Transfer Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the Consumer Financial
Protection Act.
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The CFPB's inquiry will help to inform regulators and policymakers
about the future of our payments system. Importantly, it will also
yield insights that may help the CFPB to implement other statutory
responsibilities, including any potential rulemaking under Section 1033
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The
CFPB's orders build on the efforts of the Federal Trade Commission's
work to shed light on the business practices of the largest technology
companies in the world.
The CFPB's inquiry is one of many efforts within the Federal
Reserve System to plan for the future of real-time payments and to
ensure a fair and competitive payments system in our country. The
Bureau intends to open a Federal Register docket to invite public
comment. I invite any interested parties to submit comments to inform
the agency's inquiry.
In addition, the Bureau is inviting comment on the following
questions related to the Bureau's inquiry:
1. What fees, fines, or other penalties do large technology
companies assess on users of their payment platforms, including for:
a. Purported violations of the technology companies' acceptable use
policies; or
b. Any other conduct?
2. Do the acceptable use policies for technology companies' payment
platforms include provisions that can restrict access to their
platforms? If so, under what circumstances can the technology companies
restrict access to their platforms?
Re-opening the comment period will provide additional opportunity
for the public to prepare comments related to this inquiry and to
comment on the additional questions. Therefore, the CFPB is re-opening
the comment period for an additional 30 days.
Rohit Chopra,
Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2022-24214 Filed 11-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
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