The CFPB continued to be active in the consumer payments space in 2018, while the Federal Reserve and market participants considered the future of payment processing, including the development of faster payment systems.

Prepaid Card Rule

The CFPB finalized changes to its prepaid card rule in January 2018³ and delayed the rule’s compliance date to April 2019.⁴ The amended rule preserves significant restrictions on credit features and detailed disclosure requirements, while some burdens on industry participants have been alleviated. Notably, the amended rule now includes: (1) an exception for error resolution and limited liability requirements for unregistered prepaid accounts; (2) more flexibility for credit cards that are linked to digital wallets; (3) an exclusion from the rule for loyalty, award or promotional gift cards; (4) flexibility regarding the pre-acquisition disclosures for certain prepaid accounts; and (5) flexibility in submitting prepaid account agreements to the CFPB.⁵

Today, our payment system is again at a crossroads. There is a growing gap between the transaction capabilities we need and expect in the digital economy—fast, convenient, and accessible to all—and the underlying settlement capabilities.” 
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard1

Remittance Rule

In October 2018, the Bureau released a five-year look-back report on its 2013 remittance rule (Remittance Rule).⁶ The Remittance Rule requires remittance transfer providers to disclose consumers costs, fees and other information; provide cancellation and refund rights; investigate disputes; and remedy certain errors.⁷ The Bureau’s report concludes that the Remittance Rule “did not lead to a large increase in prices,” but may have created some upward pricing pressure.⁸ The Bureau indicated that the report will inform any potential future rulemaking to amend the Remittance Rule,⁹ although we do not expect such a rulemaking in the near term.

The increased prevalence of overdraft fees, high cost small dollar credit, and check cashing has cost our constituencies tens of billions of dollars that a real time payments system would help ameliorate.” 
Reps. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and Dwight Evans (D-PA) on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus²

Funds availability and remote capture

In November 2018, the CFPB and the FRB jointly proposed amendments to Regulation CC, which generally regulates the US check clearing system, to implement a statutory requirement to adjust for inflation the amount of funds depository institutions must make available to their customers.¹⁰ The joint proposal also reopened for public comment the agencies’ 2011 proposal on certain fund-availability amendments to subpart B of Regulation CC (Subpart B), which they jointly administer.¹¹ The proposal would revise requirements specifying the schedules within which banks must make funds available for withdrawal and rules regarding exceptions to the schedules, disclosure of funds availability policies and payment of interest.¹² In September 2018, the FRB adopted changes to Regulation CC that reflect the evolution of the check collection process from largely paper-based to virtually all electronic, and include new indemnities related to electronically created items and remote deposit capture.¹³

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Examinations and regulation Z

In the credit card space, CFPB examinations typically assess advertising and marketing, account origination, account servicing, payments and periodic statements, dispute resolution and the marketing, sale and servicing of credit card add-on products.¹⁴ In recent examinations, the Bureau has generally found supervised entities in compliance with applicable consumer financial laws.¹⁵ In 2018, however, the Bureau did find that certain supervised institutions failed to meet their obligations under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z when conducting periodic re-examinations to assess whether it is appropriate to reduce an account’s APR(s), and is likely to focus on this issue in future examinations.¹⁶

Fair access to credit and credit card market

The CFPB has devoted substantial attention to underserved communities’ fair access to credit. In its spring 2018 semi-annual report¹⁷ and December 2017 report on the consumer credit card market,¹⁸ the Bureau highlighted significant problems faced by non-prime borrowers seeking to obtain a credit card. In January 2019, the Bureau issued a request for information¹⁹ about aspects of the consumer credit card market to inform its biannual review of the market required by the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act).²⁰

Data security

The CFPB will likely continue to focus on payment processors’ data security practices. In a statement made shortly after assuming leadership of the Bureau²¹ in December 2018, Director Kraninger said that she will focus on data security and privacy, particularly with respect to information collected by the Bureau.Director Kraninger’s words echoed previous statements on data security priorities by former Acting Director Mulvaney.²²

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, which carries the potential for substantial fines (up to the greater of €20 million or four percent of worldwide revenue), came into force in May 2018 and generally applies to payment processors and other institutions that advertise and provide products or services to European Union customers.²³ In addition, California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA),²⁴ which creates compliance responsibilities for most businesses that collect personal information about California residents.²⁵

Enforcement

The CFPB found that a large financial institution violated TILA by failing to reevaluate and reduce the APRs for certain consumer credit card accounts and failing to have reasonable written policies and procedures in place to conduct the required APR re-evaluations.²⁶ Pursuant to a consent order with the institution, the Bureau required restitution of US$335 million for affected consumer accounts.²⁷

In a January 2019 action, the Bureau entered into a consent order with a bank for violations of the EFTA and the Consumer Financial Protection Act by failing to properly stop preauthorized electronic fund transfers and failing to initiate and conduct adequate error resolution investigations.²⁸ The Bureau also found that the bank engaged in unfair acts or practices by reopening closed consumer deposit accounts in certain circumstances without providing timely notice.²⁹ The CFPB imposed a US$3.5 million fine and required consumer redress payments in excess of US$12 million.³⁰

The FTC has also continued to actively police participants in the payments industry:

• The FTC reached a notable settlement with a prominent peer-to-peer payment service provider over allegations that the company misled consumers about their ability to transfer funds to external bank accounts and control the privacy of their transactions in violation of the FTCA and the GLBA.³¹
• The FTC also reached a settlement, which included a fine of approximately US$6 million, with an individual and his associated company over charges of laundering millions of dollars in credit card charges through fraudulent merchant accounts.³² The FTC originally filed suit against 12 independent sales organization and sales agent defendants, and litigation continues with respect to eight of the defendants.³³

Litigation

In June 2018, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Ohio v. Am. Express Co., holding that provisions in American Express’s merchant contracts that restrict merchants from encouraging the use of other cards did not violate the Sherman Act.³⁴ The Court found that the plaintiffs failed to show that the provisions had anticompetitive effects.

Faster payments

In November 2018, the FRB sought public comment on potential actions to facilitate real-time interbank settlement of faster payments through the development of: (1) a 24x7x365 faster payments real time gross settlement (RTGS) system and/or (2) a liquidity management tool to enable transfers between Federal Reserve accounts 24x7x365 to facilitate faster payments.³⁵ The proposal follows a multi-year initiative by the Federal Reserve to engage with industry and other stakeholders to upgrade and enhance the nation’s payment system, which resulted in the publication of final recommendations of the Faster Payments Task Force in 2017.³⁶ The FRB’s proposal follows the 2017 launch of an RTGS system for faster payments by The Clearing House Payments Company, LLC.³⁷ Same-day settlement via the automated clearing house (ACH) system became available in 2017, and NACHA adopted new rules in 2018 to expand the availability of same-day ACH.³⁸

Fintech outlook

• Fintech companies have developed AI-based regtech tools to improve fraud detection, identity theft, compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) obligations and Know-Your-Customer requirements, all of which are expected to be of particular usefulness in the payment processing area. The federal bank regulators have expressed an openness to engagement and dialogue with financial institutions on innovative approaches to AML compliance programs that increase the effectiveness of such programs and allow banks to maximize the use of their AML resources, provided that institutions continue to run existing processes in parallel while testing new approaches.³⁹
• Faster payments developments and blockchain technology are introducing new “rails” by which payments are processed and offering new options to consumers, businesses and financial institutions. These developments, along with the pursuit of these technologies by fintech players, could reshape this market segment going forward. A challenge for new entrants in this market will be to assimilate into a highly regulated space, while competing with established players pursuing similar technologies.

2019 outlook

• We expect the CFPB to continue to focus on consumer access to credit, as well as on the data security practices of both payments processors and the Bureau itself.  Consistent with 2018, we do not expect the payment processing space to be a busy enforcement area for the Bureau in 2019.
• We expect continued debate around access to Federal Reserve payments services⁴⁰ as the Federal Reserve considers its next steps with respect to potential faster payments solutions. Large technology companies have advocated for expanded access rules to permit direct access by non-banks to Federal Reserve payments services, while the banking industry has argued in favor of maintaining the existing framework.⁴¹ Discussions regarding the future of the US payments system, along with the related debate over access, will continue throughout 2019.   

¹ Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard, Supporting Fast Payments for All (Oct. 3, 2018), https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/brainard20181003a.htm.
² Tiffany D. Cross, Black Lawmakers Press Fed on Real-Time Payments, The Beat DC (Oct. 31, 2018), https://www.thebeatdc.com/blog/2018/10/31/black-lawmakers-press-fed-on-real-time-payments.
³ CFPB, Prepaid Accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) (Feb. 13, 2018), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-02-13/pdf/2018-01305.pdf.
⁴Id. at 6364.
⁵ CFPB, Executive Summary of the 2018 Prepaid Amendments (Jan. 25, 2018), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb

_prepaid_executive­ summary_2018-amendments.pdf.
⁶ CFPB, Remittance Rule Assessment Report (Oct. 2018), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_

remittance-rule-assessment_report.pdf.
⁷ CFPB, Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) (May 22, 2013), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2013-05-22/pdf/2013-10604.pdf.
⁸ CFPB, Remittance Rule Assessment Report (Oct. 2018), at 93, https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_

remittance-rule-assessment_report.pdf.
⁹Id. at 3.
¹⁰ CFPB and FRB, Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Regulation CC) (Dec. 10, 2018), https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/2018-25746.pdf.
¹¹ CFPB and FRB, Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Mar. 25, 2011), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2011-03-25/pdf/2011-5449.pdf.
¹² 12 C.F.R. § 229.10-229.21.
¹³ FRB, Availability of Funds and Collection of Checks (Sept. 17, 2018), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-09-17/pdf/2018-20029.pdf.
¹⁴ CFPB Supervisory Highlights, Issue 17 (Summer 2018), at 5: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp

_supervisory-highlights_issue-17_2018-09.pdf.
¹⁵ Id.
¹⁶ Id. at 5-6.
¹⁷ CFPB, Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Spring 2018), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_semi-annual-report-to-congress_spring-2018.pdf.
¹⁸ CFPB, The Consumer Credit Card Market (Dec. 2017), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_

consumer-credit-card-market-report_2017.pdf.
¹⁹ CFPB, Request for Information Regarding Consumer Credit Card Market (Jan. 31, 2019), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2019-01-31/pdf/2019-00487.pdf.
²⁰ See 15 U.S.C. § 1616(a).
²¹ ABA Banking Journal, Data Security, Privacy to Be Early Focus of CFPB's Kraninger (Dec. 11, 2018), https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2018/12/data-security-privacy-to-be-early-focus-of-cfpbs-kraninger/.
²² Yuka Hayashi, New CFPB Chief Curbs Data Collection, Citing Cybersecurity Worries, The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 4, 2017), https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-cfpb-chief-curbs-data-collection-citing-cybersecurity-worries-1512429736; Glenn Thrush, Mulvaney, Watchdog Bureau's Leader, Advises Bankers on Ways to Curtail Agency, The New York Times (Apr. 24, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/us/mulvaney-consumer-financial-protection-bureau.html.
²³See White & Case Technology Newsflash, Everything Your Business Should Know About the Impending GDPR (Feb. 26, 2018), https://www.whitecase.com/publications/article/everything-your-business-should-know-about-impending-gdpr; White & Case Technology Newsflash, GDPR Handbook: Unlocking the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Sept. 13, 2018), https://www.whitecase.com/publications/article/gdpr-handbook-unlocking-eu-general-data-protection-regulation.
²⁴ California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.198(a) (2018).
²⁵ See White & Case Technology Newsflash, A Slice of GDPR in California? (Sept. 7, 2018) https://www.whitecase.com/publications/article/slice-gdpr-california; White & Case Technology Newsflash, CCPA and GDPR: Comparison of certain provisions (Sept. 7, 2018), https://www.whitecase.com/publications/article/ccpa-and-gdpr-comparison-certain-provisions.
²⁶ CFPB, Consent Order in the Matter of Citibank, N.A., 2018-BCFP-0003 (June 29, 2018), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_

citibank-na_consent-order_2018-06.pdf.
²⁷Id. at 13.
²⁸ CFPB, Consent Order in the Matter of USAA Federal Savings Bank, 2019-BCFP-0001 (Jan. 3, 2019), https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_

usaa-federal-savings-bank_consent-order.pdf.
²⁹Id. at 2.
³⁰Id. at 21-27
³¹ FTC, FTC Gives Final Approval to Settlement with PayPal Related to Allegations Involving its Venmo Peer-to-Peer Payment Service (May 24, 2018), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/05/ftc-gives-final-approval-settlement-paypal-related-allegations; FTC, Decision and Order In the Matter of Paypal, Inc. (May 23, 2018), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/1623102-c4651_paypal_venmo_decision_and_order_final_5-24-18.pdf.
³²FTC v. Elec. Payment Sols. of Am. Inc., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 129201 (D. Ariz. 2018), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/electronic_payment

_solutions_
proposed_consent_jdgmnt_dynasty_and_mihilli.pdf.
³³ FTC, Two Defendants Settle Allegations in 'Money Now Funding' Credit Card Charge Laundering Scheme (Dec. 11, 2018), https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2018/12/two-defendants-settle-allegations-money-now-funding-credit-card.
³⁴Ohio v. Am. Express Co., 138 S. Ct. 2274 (U.S. 2018), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1454diff_6579.pdf; U.S.C. §§ 1–7.
³⁵ Federal Reserve System, Potential Federal Reserve Actions to Support Interbank Settlement of Faster Payments, Request for Comments (Nov. 15, 2018), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-11-15/pdf/2018-24667.pdf.
³⁶ Faster Payments Task Force, The U.S. Path to Faster Payments (Jan. 2017), https://fasterpaymentstaskforce.org/.
³⁷ The Clearing House, The RTP Network Turns 1: TCH's Commitment to Faster Payments (Nov. 25, 2018), https://www.theclearinghouse.org/payment-systems/articles/2018/11/rtp-network-turns-1-11-25-18.
³⁸ NACHA, NACHA Marks the Completion of the Third Phase of Same Day ACH (Mar. 16, 2018), https://www.nacha.org/news/nacha-marks-completion-third-phase-same-day-ach; NACHA, Same Day ACH Will be Enhanced to Meet ACH End-User Needs (Sept. 14, 2018), https://www.nacha.org/news/same-day-ach-will-be-enhanced-meet-ach-end-user-needs.
³⁹See White and Case Alert, Agencies Encourage Banks to Innovate in BSA/AML Compliance (Dec. 7, 2018), https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/agencies-encourage-banks-innovate-bsaaml-compliance.
⁴⁰ Financial Innovation Now, Comment Letter Regarding Potential Federal Reserve Actions to Support Interbank Settlement of Faster Payments, Docket No. OP–1625 (Dec 14, 2018), https://www.federalreserve.gov/SECRS/2018/December/20181219/OP-1625/OP-1625_121418_133155_441345478200_1.pdf.
⁴¹ American Bankers Association, Comment Letter Regarding Potential Federal Reserve Actions to Support Interbank Settlement of Faster Payments, Docket No. OP–1625 (Dec. 10, 2018), https://www.federalreserve.gov/SECRS/2018/December/20181213/OP-1625/OP-1625_121018_133026_493653101591_1.pdf

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