CFPB Aims to Get Ahead of Financial Abuses With Info Demands

The CFPB’s recent information demands on banks, big-tech companies and the buy-now-pay-later industry will help the consumer watchdog avoid being “asleep at the switch” if problems arise, the bureau’s director Rohit Chopra said.

Chopra, who took over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in October, has used his first few months on the job to pry information on the inner-workings of companies, including Apple Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc., that offer payment services.

The CFPB wants to understand how emerging products in online payments, cryptocurrency and other key financial services markets are impacting consumers before potential problems develop, Chopra said Thursday ...