Dive Brief:

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday proposed an interpretive rule that puts video game companies under the same umbrella as some traditional financial institutions. 

• The companies that run virtual gaming worlds, such as the popular online game World of Warcraft, are subject to the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the agency said in a news release. 

• "The payment systems on these gaming platforms have evolved rapidly," The interpretive rule says. "Rather than relying on a business model in which players make a one-time payment to buy or play the game, some gaming platforms have developed elaborate economies where the platforms accept US dollars in exchange for virtual currency that can be transacted among players and other platform participants."

Dive Insight:

The 1978 Electronic Fund Transfer Act established rights for consumers who transfer money electronically, and includes the rights to refunds in some instances and the right to dispute transactions. 

Video game companies with payment systems must comply with the law, the CFPB's interpretive rule says.

The agency also wants feedback from young video gamers and their parents on their experience with gaming assets and transactions, the agency said in a blog post published Friday. The bureau wants to know how these payment experiences are changing as video games become more advanced.

CFPB research published in April found that operators of virtual gaming worlds don't seem to offer the same protections as traditional financial institutions such as banks, which are governed by consumer protection laws. 

The bureau identified theft, scams, fraud and money laundering as several issues in these virtual marketplaces. Gamers seem to have little recourse if they lose money through scams, fraud or theft, the report said.

Two organizations that represent video game companies, the International Game Developers Association and the Entertainment Software Association, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the CFPB’s interpretive rule.

The CFPB also has an eye on protecting consumer privacy. In its request for information, the bureau said it wants to know about the effectiveness of privacy rules and wants suggestions on strengthening privacy frameworks along with the types of data that the agency should monitor.

"When people pay for their family expenses using new forms of digital payments, they must be confident that their transactions are not tainted by harmful surveillance or errors," CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in the news release. 

The agency cited its own research in the news release, which found that some payment mechanisms collect more data than is needed to finish a payment transaction. Some payment systems are collecting users' location and browsing history, the news release said.

Financial technology companies are required to give consumers a way to opt out of data collection, but the news release cited a government accountability office report that found a relatively low number of consumers choose that option.