Apple Card and Toyota escape US consumer protection

Budget cuts by the US government are having a detrimental effect on consumer protection. In addition to financial institutions, companies such as Apple and Toyota, which have been caught violating the law, are also benefiting from this.

The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is being reduced to a minimum. The budget will be reduced to a fraction, and the majority of staff will be made redundant. The bureau will now only be responsible for 26 selected companies, spread across the credit rating, debt collection, international money transfers, and motor vehicle financing sectors.

The CFPB will have to discontinue all other procedures. Toyota, for example, was caught taking advantage of car loan borrowers by offering additional services for a fee. Cancellations of these add-ons were made more difficult, refunds were not made or were too low, and customers' credit ratings were affected by false information. Toyota had to pay a fine of twelve million US dollars for this in November 2023. In addition, conditions such as good behavior and damages amounting to 48 million dollars were imposed. From now on, the CFPB will not only no longer review whether Toyota complies with these conditions; it will also expressly refrain from pursuing any alleged violations of the law (Ref. 2023-CFPB-0015).

Supervision of Apple cancelled

Misconduct by Apple and its financial partner Goldman Sachs Bank USA has cost users of the Apple Card credit card millions. The Apple Card is a Mastercard credit card marketed by Apple in the USA since 2019 and issued by Goldman Sachs Bank. Surprising interest charges, disadvantageous booking of refunds, and failure to process customer complaints led to Apple Card holders being asked to pay for expenses for which they were not responsible.

Penalties were imposed in October 2024: 25 million dollars for Apple and 45 million dollars for Goldman Sachs. In addition, conditions were imposed, including 20 million dollars in compensation to injured consumers for Goldman Sachs and compliance programs for both companies for five years. The CFPB has now refrained from investigating Apple's compliance with the regulations or pursuing any violations (Case No. 2024-CFPB-0012).

A similar waiver for Goldman Sachs is likely to follow soon. Other financial institutions caught violating the law, such as US Bank or Navy Federal Credit Union, have already received theirs. A fine against the British financial services provider Wise for hidden fees was subsequently reduced from over two million dollars to 45,000 dollars (case no. 2025-CFPB-0004).

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