Paymentsdive
In a blog post this week, the director reiterated that payments processors, credit card issuers and debt collectors are attracting scrutiny from his agency.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra reminded players in the payments and banking industries this week that some of them are in his agency’s cross-hairs.
Chopra in a July 11 blog post reiterated industry practices that his agency considers troublesome and ripe for regulatory action. He framed the agency’s agenda as part of President Joe Biden’s effort to crack down on anticompetitive business practices. He noted three areas that have attracted the agency’s attention, and not in a good way.
One of the areas of CFPB focus is on the concentration of power that has occurred with respect to “core service providers,” including FIS, Fiserv, Jack Henry and Finastra. He noted those four payments processors collectively service 78% of the nation’s banks. In catering to mainly small local banks, Chopra expressed concern about the negative impact those payments processors’ practices may be having on local communities.
“These platforms can limit flexibility and raise costs for many small financial institutions seeking to fairly compete,” he said in the July 11 blog post.