The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ended its enforcement actions against Apple Inc. and US Bancorp, releasing both companies from oversight agreements several years ahead of schedule. The terminations, which appeared on the agency’s website, mean the companies will no longer be subject to long-term compliance monitoring intended to ensure they abide by the terms of their respective settlements.
The CFPB’s original actions targeted significant consumer issues. The agency had pursued Apple alongside its partner Goldman Sachs for customer service failures and misrepresentations affecting users of the Apple Card. Separately, US Bank faced charges over its practices of freezing customer unemployment benefit accounts loaded onto prepaid debit cards during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
These moves are the latest in a series of early close-outs from the consumer watchdog. The CFPB is reportedly clearing its dockets of existing enforcement and supervisory actions in anticipation of significant workforce cuts. These reductions are expected as a result of new GOP-imposed budget caps that will constrain the agency’s operational capacity and resources.
This trend is not isolated to just ending compliance monitoring. Recently, the CFPB also terminated actions against Navy Federal Credit Union and Toyota Motor Credit Corp. Those decisions were particularly notable as they allowed the companies to avoid paying a combined total of over $120 million in refunds that were originally slated to go back to affected customers.
Under its October 2024 settlement, Apple paid a $25 million civil penalty and was subjected to a five-year monitoring period. The early termination effectively ends that oversight after less than one year. Its partner in the Apple Card venture, Goldman Sachs, which was ordered to pay a $45 million fine and nearly $20 million in customer redress, remains under its enforcement action as of this week.
US Bank’s case dates to December 2023, when it agreed to pay a $15 million fine and return $5.7 million to customers for unfairly restricting access to their unemployment funds. Its settlement also included a five-year compliance monitoring period that has now been cut short, mirroring the relief granted to Apple and highlighting a significant strategic shift within the federal agency.
