WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to end temporary “safe harbors” for two financial technology companies is raising eyebrows in the community, with some wondering if the agency is committed to promoting financial innovation.
The end to the safe harbors has been described as a mutual parting, but fintech experts worry the CFPB doesn’t want to appear to be lending its imprimatur to individual companies or to the financial technology industry as a whole.
The situation is “frustrating,” said one industry advocate who declined to be named for fear of upsetting officials such as bureau director Rohit Chopra. The industry is starting to ask whether Chopra views fintechs as potentially harmful to consumers, several sources contacted for this story said.
