Key Points

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday issued a final version of a rule it says will soon oversee nonbank companies that offer financial services such as payments and wallet apps.

• That would include payment services from Apple, Google and Amazon, as well as fintech companies like PayPal and Block and peer-to-peer services Venmo and Zelle.

• The most popular apps covered by the rule collectively process more than 13 billion consumer payments a year, the CFPB said.

On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final version of a rule that it says will soon oversee nonbank companies that offer financial services like payments and wallet apps.

Tech giants and payment companies that handle at least 50 million transactions a year will be under the review, which is aimed at ensuring new entrants adhere to laws that banks and credit unions abide by, the CFPB said in a statement.

The CFPB said seven nonbanks qualify for the new scrutiny. Payment services from Apple, Google and Amazon, as well as fintech companies including PayPal and Block, and peer-to-peer services Venmo and Zelle are affected by the change.

While the CFPB already had some authority over digital payment companies because of its oversight of electronic funds transfers, the new rule allows it to treat tech companies more like banks. It makes companies subject to “proactive examinations” to ensure legal compliance, allowing it to demand records and interview employees.

“Digital payments have gone from a novelty to a necessity and our oversight must reflect this reality,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “The rule will help protect consumer privacy, prevent fraud and prevent illegal account closures.”

A year ago, the CFPB said it wanted to expand its oversight to technology and fintech companies that offer financial services but have evaded greater scrutiny by partnering with banks. Americans increasingly use payment apps as de facto bank accounts, to store cash and make everyday purchases through their mobile phones.

The most popular apps covered by the rule collectively process more than 13 billion consumer payments a year and have seen “particularly strong adoption” among low- and middle-income users, the CFPB said Thursday.

“What began as a convenient alternative to cash has evolved into a critical financial tool, processing more than $1 trillion in payments between consumers and their friends, family and businesses,” the regulator said.

The initial proposal would have subjected companies that process at least 5 million transactions a year to some of the same scrutiny the CFPB gives to banks and credit unions. That threshold was raised to 50 million transactions in the final rule, limiting the expanded powers from about 17 companies to just seven, the agency said Thursday.

One of the companies, Zelle, which is owned by Early Warning Services, said it has been overseen by the CFPB and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency since its inception in 2017.

“We operate within the regulatory perimeter and we do so knowing that innovation, security and regulation are not mutually exclusive,” a spokesperson said.

Payment apps that only work at a particular retailer, such as Starbucks, are excluded from the rule.

The new CFPB rule is one of the rare instances where the U.S. banking industry publicly supported the regulator’s actions; banks have long felt that technology companies making inroads into financial services should be more scrutinized.

The rule “marks an important step forward for the CFPB to regularly ensure that nonbank market participants actually meet their obligations to consumers,” Lindsey Johnson, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, said in an email.

The CFPB said the rule will take effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.

It’s not known whether the incoming Trump administration will decide to change or eliminate the new rule, but it’s possible that expanded oversight of technology companies will align with future CFPB leadership.