Analysis-US consumer watchdog hands Wall Street rare win with Big Tech crackdown

A smartphone with the Apple Pay logo is placed on a displayed Google Pay logo in this illustration taken on July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

(Reuters) - The U.S. consumer watchdog, not usually known to side with Wall Street lenders, has handed them a rare win by cracking down on Big Tech companies that are increasingly encroaching on banking turf.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) last week proposed regulating payments and smartphone wallets provided by tech leaders like Apple and Google, arguing they now rival traditional bank services in scale and scope and should be subject to the same consumer safeguards.