According to Cointelegraph, Rohit Chopra, chair of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), expressed concerns about big businesses acting as 'mini-governments' and imposing their own rules on payment infrastructure. Speaking at a fintech conference hosted by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank on September 7, Chopra warned that as Big Tech continues to innovate, small firms may be squeezed out of the space.

Chopra noted that the rapid development of consumer payment systems, particularly point-of-sale (POS) systems, has received little regulatory attention compared to crypto assets. He highlighted how Big Tech companies have entered the payments ecosystem to deepen consumer engagement on their platforms, harvest and potentially monetize transactions-related data, and exploit traditional financial sector fee streams.

Apple and Google's dominance in mobile payments gives them outsized impact on consumers' access to mobile payment solutions. Chopra cited Apple's requirement that NFC payments made on Apple mobile devices be routed through Apple Pay as an example of the hindrances the technology faces. In October, the CFPB will propose rules to give consumers more rights over their personal financial data, encouraging open banking and payments by allowing consumers to switch services more easily.