Affirm, PayPal, Square Stocks Are Dropping. A New CFPB Rule Could Be Why.

A trio of payment stocks were trading lower Wednesday after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule that confirms “buy now, pay later” lenders are credit-card providers. Affirm Holdings dropped 6.7%, while PayPal Holdings slipped 3.2%, and Block fell 5.9% in afternoon trading. BNPL lenders “must provide consumers some key legal protections and rights that apply to conventional credit cards,” according to the CFPB.