House Votes to Repeal CFPB Rule Covering Consumer Payment Apps
The House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act resolution Wednesday (April 9), overturning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule, “Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications.”
The resolution (H.J.Res.64) says that Congress disapproves the rule and “such rule shall have no force or effect.”
It passed in a vote along party lines, with 219 Republicans voting in favor and 211 Democrats voting against, according to the website of the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Three representatives did not vote.
The Senate voted March 5 to approve the joint resolution (S.J.Res.28) disapproving of the CFPB’s rule. That resolution passed the Senate on a 51-47 vote.
Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., who sponsored the resolution in the House, said in a Wednesday post on X that the measure now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
In a thread on X, Flood said the Larger Participants Rule was one of the tools “progressive activists” used to expand the CFPB’s regulatory authority by leveraging its examination authority to regulate non-bank consumer payments firms.
“Rolling back this regulation is critical to ensuring that the CFPB doesn’t become a barrier to innovation for job creators across America,” Flood wrote in the thread.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, opposed the resolution, saying that it would revoke the CFPB’s authority to supervise payment apps operated by Big Tech companies.
“While the same consumer protection laws that apply to banks do not apply to these Big Tech firms, it is critical that the CFPB examine them to ensure they are following the law,” Waters said Wednesday on the House floor before the vote, according to a press release.
When the CFPB announced the final rule on Nov. 21, the regulator said in a press release that it would help the CFPB ensure that the largest nonbank companies — those handling more than 50 million transactions per year — follow federal law like large banks, credit unions and other financial institutions already do.
“Digital payments have gone from novelty to necessity and our oversight must reflect this reality,” then-CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the release. “This rule will help to protect consumer privacy, guard against fraud, and prevent illegal account closures.”
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