A joint resolution disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to "Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications".

This joint resolution nullifies the CFPB's December 10, 2024 final rule titled "Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications." That rule defined which nonbank payment app operators qualified as "larger participants" subject to CFPB supervisory authority — specifically, nonbanks that process at least 50 million consumer transactions annually and are not small businesses. Under that framework, the CFPB would have been empowered to examine those companies' books and practices for compliance with consumer financial protection laws, the same way it examines banks.

By disapproving the rule, Congress has rendered it void with no force or effect. Under the Congressional Review Act, the nullification also bars the CFPB from issuing a substantially similar rule in the future without new congressional authorization.

Large nonbank digital payment app operators — those processing 50 million or more consumer transactions annually — that would have been subject to CFPB supervisory examinations under the nullified rule. Consumers who use those payment apps are also affected, as the CFPB's examination authority over those platforms no longer applies. The CFPB itself is directly constrained by the resolution.

Payment app companies that would have faced new CFPB oversight — including routine examinations of their consumer compliance practices — are relieved of that regulatory burden. Consumers who rely on those apps lose a layer of supervisory protection the CFPB designed to treat large payment apps comparably to supervised banks. The Congressional Review Act bar means this specific regulatory gap cannot easily be closed by the CFPB alone.

The resolution is self-executing. Upon enactment, the CFPB rule has no force or effect and no agency rulemaking is required to implement the disapproval. The Congressional Review Act's prohibition on reissuing a substantially similar rule is automatic. The CFPB would need express new congressional authorization to reimpose supervisory jurisdiction over this market segment through a comparable rule.