Google sues Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

By Samantha Delouya, CNN

(CNN) — Google sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday, challenging the agency’s decision to place Google’s payment division under federal supervision.

In a copy of the lawsuit provided by Google, the company said the CFPB’s supervision would be a “burdensome form of regulation” imposed based on a “small number of unsubstantiated user complaints.” The CFPB’s decision related to a Google peer-to-peer payment product no longer offered in the United States.

The lawsuit, filed in the US district court in Washington, DC, comes after the CFPB published an order announcing supervisory authority of Google Payment Corp. The agency alleged that Google’s handling of its payment products may pose a risk to consumers. The CFPB cited customer complaints, including that Google failed to properly investigate instances where money was transferred in error.

The legal fight between Google and the CFPB, the government agency founded to enforce consumer protection laws, comes amid a push by big tech companies, including Google, Apple and Samsung, into financial products.

In a statement, Google spokesperson José Castañeda said Google’s payment products never posed a risk to users.

“This is a clear case of government overreach involving Google Pay peer-to-peer payments, which never raised risks and is no longer provided in the U.S., and we are challenging it in court,” he said.

In the company’s lawsuit, Google argued that the CFPB committed a legal error by setting an “exceedingly low bar” for what it counts as sufficient risks to consumers.

“As a matter of common sense, a product that no longer exists is incapable of posing such risks,” the lawsuit said.

However, the CFPB said the discontinuation of Google’s payment products did not release it from agency supervision.

Supervisory authority over Google’s payments division would allow the CFPB to oversee its operations, ensuring they comply with consumer financial laws. In Google’s lawsuit, the company alleged the CFPB would subject Google to on-site examinations and requests for confidential documents and information.

In 2022, the CFPB announced it would begin examining nonbank financial institutions that pose a risk to consumers.

“This authority gives us critical agility to move as quickly as the market, allowing us to conduct examinations of financial companies posing risks to consumers and stop harm before it spreads,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra in 2022.

This story has been updated with additional details and context.

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This report has been updated with additional content.