As Acting Director Mick Mulvaney had promised, the CFPB on Thursday delayed implementation ofits prepaid card rule by one year to April 2019.

The agency also announced other changes that adjustsrequirements for resolving errors on unregistered accounts andprovides greater flexibility for credit cards linked to digitalwallets.

CUNA officials said they were pleased with Mulvaney'sactions.

“As credit unions continue to implement thousands of pages ofnew rules from the CFPB, we appreciate that it has considered thisburden on smaller financial service providers and is giving themmore time to come into compliance with the prepaid card rule,” CUNAChief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said. “We will continueto urge the CFPB to consider modifying the rule, so Regulation Zrequirements do not apply to the overdraft features of prepaidaccounts.”

Regulation Z refers to the section of the rules implements Truthin Lending Act requirements.

NAFCU officials had said they did not believe that the ruleshould apply to credit union issuers of prepaid accounts.

The revised rule provides that error resolution and liabilitylimitation protections apply after a consumer's identity has beenverified.

“These changes will help encourage prompt registration andstreamline compliance for financial institutions as well as ensurecontinued availability and utility of prepaid accounts forconsumers,” the agency said.

The rule also changes the digital wallet provisions to ensurethat consumers continue to receive full credit card protections ontheir existing credit card accounts while making it easier for themto link those accounts to digital wallets that can store funds.

Meanwhile, congressional Democrats are asking for a Departmentof Justice probe into the validity of comments about proposed rulesthat were posted on several agency websites, including theCFPB.

The House Democrats said they had originally requested that theJustice Department investigate the possibility that fake commentshad been posted on the Federal Communications Commissionwebsite.

However, they said that based on a Wall Street Journalinvestigation, they believe the practice is more widespread andcited the CFPB's payday lending rules as an example.

They said the Journal reported that many of the phony commentscame through a comment-generating website operated by the CommunityFinancial Services Association of America, a trade grouprepresenting payday lenders.

“Immediate action is needed to restore public trust in thefederal rulemaking process,” the Democrats said.

Officials from the payday lending association defended theirefforts in opposition to the rule.

“There is overwhelming and authentic opposition to the rule,”said association CEO Dennis Shaul. “The comment period affordedvirtually the only opportunity for ordinary citizens tomake their views known on the record.”

Shaul said that the association provided training for membercompanies and their employees. Those employees were instructed totell customers that they were not required to file comments.

The letter requesting the Justice Department probe was signed byDemocratic Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Frank Pallone of NewJersey, Robert Scott of Virginia and Jerrold Nadler of NewYork.