CFPB Puts Early Stop to Monitoring of Apple and US Bank

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reportedly ended settlements with Apple and U.S. Bank, putting a stop to monitoring that was initially set to last for years.

In both cases, the settlements were reached during the Biden administration, and the companies paid the full civil money penalty that their settlements included, Reuters reported Tuesday (Sept. 23), citing court filings from earlier this month.

The FTC’s settlement with Apple was announced in October 2024 and involved the regulator’s allegations that the company and Goldman Sachs mishandled transaction disputes from Apple credit card customers and misled customers about whether some transactions were interest-free, according to the report.

The regulator’s settlement with U.S. Bank was announced in 2023 and included allegations that the bank illegally prevented consumers from accessing unemployment benefits during the pandemic, the report said.

The settlements with both Apple and U.S. Bank included enhanced compliance and cooperation that were to last five years, per the report.

The FTC’s scrapping of these settlements follows its ending of settlements with Toyota and Bank of America and its halting of most enforcement actions that were started under the Biden administration and remained pending when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to the report.

When the CFPB cancelled a $95 million fine against Navy Federal Credit Union on July 1, the regulator issued its order terminating the penalty without providing its reasoning for the move, PYMNTS reported at the time.

The CFPB has levied that penalty in November 2024, ordering the credit union to repay its customers $80 million over what it said were illegally charged fees, as well as a $15 million penalty to the agency’s victim relief fund.

In May, the regulator abandoned its effort to supervise Google Payment, unravelling a marquee Biden-era bid to extend the agency’s reach into Silicon Valley and lifting a potential compliance burden from parent company Alphabet.

Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said at the time in a memo that continuing to monitor Google’s payments are would be “an unwarranted use of the Bureau’s powers and resources.”

In April, the CFPB ended its involvement in a lawsuit that accused subprime auto group Credit Acceptance of misrepresenting the cost of credit and tricking borrowers into expensive loans.