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NewsBriefs

This article contains excerpts from news stories recently posted under refund up to $120 million to consumers and pay a $55 mil-
Breaking Industry News on our homepage. For links to these and other lion fine for failing to investigate fraudulent transactions,
full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.php. mismanaging dispute resolutions, and providing mislead-
ing customer support.

Additionally, 48 state financial regulators imposed an $80
million fine on Block for violating Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
and AML regulations, citing weak due diligence practices
that enabled illicit financial activity. Block, which gener-
ated $7.5 billion in gross profit in 2023, must now hire an
independent consultant to assess and overhaul its compli-
ance protocols.
New company helps agents sell integrated solutions A multistate regulatory task force, led by officials from
California, Texas, Florida and other states, found that
The future of merchant sales increasingly revolves around Block's inadequate risk controls left Cash App vulnerable
vertical-specific software that integrates payment pro- to money laundering, fraud and other financial crimes.
cessing with business operations. Recognizing this, James Investigators determined that rather than properly inves-
Shepherd, a veteran sales trainer and president of CC Sales tigating unauthorized transactions, Block redirected con-
Pro, launched Full Stack Payments, a new company aimed sumers to their banks—then denied requests for reversal.
at making integrated sales solutions more accessible to Furthermore, Cash App's customer support line misled
agents. users by claiming live phone support was available when
it was not.
Full Stack Payments enables independent software ven-
dors (ISVs) to integrate payments into their specialized Under the enforcement order, Block must implement 24-
business management platforms, Shepherd noted. The hour live customer support, conduct thorough transaction
company debuted with CCStorage, a solution tailored for investigations and issue timely refunds. Regulators insist-
self-storage facilities, streamlining payments and facility ed these reforms are necessary to curb fraud and protect
access. Cash App's 56 million users. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra
condemned Block's practices, emphasizing that consumer
Expanding its reach, Full Stack Payments also introduced financial safety must be a priority for fintech firms, par-
an integrated system for gun shops, addressing compli- ticularly those handling peer-to-peer transactions.
ance-heavy requirements like serial number tracking and
background checks. Future verticals include gyms, medi- Tech groups sue CFPB over payments rule
cal practices, and home service contractors, all of which
require industry-specific functionality not provided by Two major tech trade groups, NetChoice and TechNet,
general-purpose POS systems. filed a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau, challenging a new rule granting the agency su-
Jonathan Shirey, CEO of Full Stack Payments, empha- pervisory authority over big tech payment services. The
sized that the company does not compete with traditional rule, finalized in November 2024, extends CFPB oversight
ISOs but instead provides supplemental opportunities for to major digital payment providers such as Apple, Google,
agents. With Full Stack Payments' mobile app, available on Amazon and PayPal, treating them similarly to regulated
iOS and Android, sales reps can easily enter merchant de- financial institutions.
tails and gain access to pre-integrated solutions, he noted,
adding that this approach enables agents to close deals ef- The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Dis-
ficiently in niche markets. trict of Columbia, argues that the CFPB has overstepped
its authority under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. NetChoice
The venture was financed with support from Netevia and TechNet claim the rule is a government overreach
Financial LLC, which provides capital and consulting that stifles innovation and imposes unnecessary regula-
services for ISOs and ISVs. Shepherd believes Full Stack tory burdens on tech companies operating in the digital
Payments bridges the gap between specialized software payments space.
vendors and traditional merchant sales models, allowing
agents to offer merchants tailored solutions that go be- This legal challenge is part of a broader wave of industry
yond standard payment processing. pushback against recent CFPB regulations. In December
2024, banking and credit union groups sued the agency
Federal, state regulators take Block to task over a proposed $5 cap on bank overdraft fees, while cred-
it reporting agencies and debt collectors have contested a
Block, the parent company of Cash App, faces regulatory rule barring medical debt from consumer credit reports.
penalties and mandated reforms following federal and
state investigations into consumer fraud protections and Tech industry representatives argue that the CFPB is at-
anti-money laundering (AML) compliance failures. The tempting to regulate areas beyond its congressional man-
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ordered Block to
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