• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Articles
  • News
  • Events
  • Advertize
  • Jobs
  • Courses
  • Contact
  • (0)
  • LoginRegister
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS
      Articles
      News
      Events
      Job Posts
    • Twitter
Datafloq

Datafloq

Data and Technology Insights

  • Categories
    • Big Data
    • Blockchain
    • Cloud
    • Internet Of Things
    • Metaverse
    • Robotics
    • Cybersecurity
    • Startups
    • Strategy
    • Technical
  • Big Data
  • Blockchain
  • Cloud
  • Metaverse
  • Internet Of Things
  • Robotics
  • Cybersecurity
  • Startups
  • Strategy
  • Technical

U.S. consumer watchdog lays out ambitious agenda to eye Big Tech, lending competition

Reuters / 3 min read.
October 27, 2021
floq.to/N8mED

By Katanga Johnson and Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Chief consumer finance watchdog Rohit Chopra told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday his agency wants to minimize foreclosures on struggling American homeowners and make consumer lending more competitive.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will also scrutinize the efforts of technology giants to gain greater control over the flow of money in the economy; these “Big Tech” companies often offer real-time consumer payments systems and consequently control huge amounts of consumer data.

And, it will sharpen its enforcement focus on companies that repeatedly violate consumer finance laws.

Chopra, a longtime consumer advocate tapped by Democratic President Joe Biden to help address inequities in lending, outlined an ambitious agenda amid the continuing economic fallout from the coronavirus in his first hearing as CFPB director before members of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

“In many parts of the country and in many individual neighborhoods, conditions remain fragile,” Chopra told the panel. “Many families continue to struggle to afford their mortgage and rent payments. Many small businesses are facing severe challenges to make ends meet.”

Chopra’s appearance will likely reinvigorate the CFPB’s status as a political lightning rod. Republicans have sought to handcuff the agency since its creation, calling it overpowerful and unaccountable.

“You have inherited an agency that was undermined by the Trump administration, which actively worked to reduce consumer protection and enable predatory behavior against the most vulnerable,” said U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, who chairs the House panel.

“Thankfully, their efforts to eliminate the CFPB were not successful.”

Sworn in as the CFPB’s full-time director earlier this month, Chopra built his name as a fierce consumer advocate at the Federal Trade Commission, and previously helped Senator Elizabeth Warren set up the CFPB after it was created in 2010.

Chopra’s record as a corporate critic and experience at the agency will likely make him a potent director, say analysts.

“This hearing should serve as a reminder of both the bureaus broad authority and Director Chopras capacity to effectively use the bureaus toolbox,” said Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research for financial firm BTIG.

Just a few weeks into the job, Chopra made his mark when the CFPB ordered https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-consumer-watchdog-orders-tech-giants-turn-over-information-payment-systems-2021-10-21 Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc and Facebook Inc to hand over information about how they gather and use consumer payment data.

He told lawmakers the agency will keep a close eye on practices that might impede competition by taking note of “the obstacles small local financial institutions face when seeking to challenge dominant incumbents, including in Big Tech.”

That push for clarity is part of a growing interest among regulators and lawmakers about the rapid adoption of technology in various financial products, ranging from cryptocurrency to new “buy now, pay later” lending products.

Democrats’ top policy priorities include boosting competition in the consumer finance sector by requiring financial companies to give consumers more control over their financial data — a concept known as “open banking https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-white-house-target-bank-mergers-financial-data-with-competition-order-2021-07-09.”

Chopra says he is studying open banking regulations in other countries, particularly the U.K., and is eager to review the agency’s comments. Analysts said they expected the CFPB to move ahead with an open-banking rule first proposed by the agency under the former Trump administration in coming months.

“I think (the open banking rulemaking) holds promise to really make sure there’s a more competitive environment; that consumers have more choices; and that there’s not just a handful of incumbents who control everything,” Chopra said.

“At the same time, we’re going to need to make sure we’re protecting privacy, security and other things that are critical.”

Chopra’s expansive agenda at the CFPB will also include revisiting https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/how-bidens-agencies-are-picking-apart-trumps-wall-street-friendly-measures-2021-04-12 several major rule easings ushered through under Republican leadership, particularly around debt collection and payday lending.

Advocates are eager to see Chopra erase industry-friendly changes ushered in under Republican leadership and impose tough new rules on the marketplace.

“We hope he will explain how he plans to supercharge the CFPB’s efforts to protect consumers from credit reporting mistakes, forced arbitration, overdraft fees and predatory loans,” said Michael Litt, a director at Washington-based U.S. PIRG, a consumer advocacy group.

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson and Pete Schroeder in Washington; Editing by Megan Davies, Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis)

Categories: News
Tags: Amazon, Data, environment, security, technology

About Reuters

Primary Sidebar

E-mail Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates daily and to hear what's going on with us!

Publish
AN Article
Submit
a press release
List
AN Event
Create
A Job Post

Jobs

  • Software Engineer | South Yorkshire, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Software Engineer with C# .net Investment House | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Senior Java Developer | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Software Engineer – Growing Digital Media Company | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • LBG Returners – Senior Data Analyst | Chester Moor, GB - February 07, 2023
More Jobs
Host your website with Managed WordPress for $1.00/mo with GoDaddy!

Tags

AI Amazon analysis analytics app application Artificial Intelligence BI Big Data business China Cloud Companies company costs crypto customers Data design development digital environment experience future Google+ government information learning machine learning market mobile Musk news Other public research sales security share social social media software strategy technology twitter

News

  • Ex-Apple designer Ive, OpenAI’s Altman discuss AI hardware -The Information
  • Samsung SDI to invest $2 billion to build second joint battery plant in US with Stellantis
  • China lists mobile app stores that comply with new rule, but Apple missing
  • Germany halts e-cars solar subsidy programme amid high demand
  • Pegatron India fire traced to workers’ failure to turn off switch -sources
More News

Related Online Courses

  • Oracle Cloud Data Management Foundations Workshop
  • Data Science at Scale
  • Statistics with Python
More courses

Footer


Datafloq is the one-stop source for big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence. We offer information, insights and opportunities to drive innovation with emerging technologies.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent

  • 5 Reasons Why Modern Data Integration Gives You a Competitive Advantage
  • 5 Most Common Database Structures for Small Businesses
  • 6 Ways to Reduce IT Costs Through Observability
  • How is Big Data Analytics Used in Business? These 5 Use Cases Share Valuable Insights
  • How Realistic Are Self-Driving Cars?

Search

Tags

AI Amazon analysis analytics app application Artificial Intelligence BI Big Data business China Cloud Companies company costs crypto customers Data design development digital environment experience future Google+ government information learning machine learning market mobile Musk news Other public research sales security share social social media software strategy technology twitter

Copyright © 2023 Datafloq
HTML Sitemap| Privacy| Terms| Cookies

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp

In order to optimize the website and to continuously improve Datafloq, we use cookies. For more information click here.

Dear visitor,
Thank you for visiting Datafloq. If you find our content interesting, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter:

Did you know that you can publish job posts for free on Datafloq? You can start immediately and find the best candidates for free! Click here to get started.

Not Now Subscribe

Thanks for visiting Datafloq
If you enjoyed our content on emerging technologies, why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive the latest news straight into your mailbox?

Subscribe

No thanks

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Marketing cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!