Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said Thursday that Apple and Google are acting as “choke points” to the U.S. payment system, cutting off innovation by keeping other apps out, YahooFinance.com reported. "Regulations imposed by Big Tech firms have a big impact on whether consumers and businesses can make payments using third-party apps," Chopra said. "We need strong challenges to dominant Wall Street banks and card networks," he added. "But there is real concern that the largest technology firms will be able to erect even more gates and toll booths that will prevent the smallest firms from emerging, raising capital, growing, and succeeding even when they offer a superior technology." Chopra’s comments follow a long-awaited report CFPB published Tuesday that focused on the impacts of Big Tech policies on tap-to-pay functions used on mobile devices like smartphones and watches. Apple and Google set regulations that govern app developers’ ability to integrate near-field communication (NFC) technology into their apps, which is needed to execute the tap-to-pay transactions. If an app does not comply with their regulations, the app can be denied access or face removal. "There's no comparable gatekeeper as we know for accessing service through a web browser," Chopra said.
