The CFPB is going gangbusters finding new people, places and things to regulate.

Some of the bureau's attention is directed at credit unions. The Senate Banking Committee addressed overdraft regulation during a Sept. 18 hearing.

Witness Travis Plunkett of Pew Trusts wrote in his submitted testimony that the CFPB researched overdrafts and reported the median size of a debit card transaction that results in an overdraft fee was $24. In comparison, the median overdraft fee charged to those transactions was $34.

“If put in terms of an annualized loan interest rate, a typical overdraft carries a 17,000% APR,” he wrote.

In mid-August, the Wall Street Journal published an article that reported a 14% increase in credit union overdraft fees and compared credit unions to big banks in the headline. Sourcing Moebs Services, WSJ said the median credit union overdraft fee was just $1.50 lower than the media bank overdraft fee. Five years ago, that margin was twice as large.

If I ran a credit union, I'd feel philosophically conflicted upon hearing that news.

On the one hand, 17,000% APR is just mortifying. In this day and age, when overdrafts are processed electronically, there is little operational justification for such a high fee. I'm not familiar with checking account loss statistics; perhaps those justify the charge. If so, I'd suggest quantifying that argument now in an attempt to head off what sounds like an inevitable regulatory cap.

Then there's the fact that for many credit unions, overdraft income is the highest noninterest income revenue producer. Here's hoping that rates rise before the CFPB proposes and finalizes an overdraft cap so credit unions can recover the revenue from interest income.

Courtesy pay opt-in procedures may also get the CFPB treatment. Plunkett said Pew's most recent survey revealed half of checking account consumers who incurred overdraft coverage charges in the last year were not aware they had opted in.

Reordering transactions was another area Pew suggested the CFPB address. We can pretend credit unions don't do this, but some do and could see a drop in fee income as well as the potential for enforcement action.

Plunkett also suggested the CFPB add additional regulations to payday lending, limiting monthly payments to less than 5% of gross monthly income and forcing lenders to finance fees over the life of the loan.

Some of the CFPB's attention has been focused on nonbank providers.

On Thursday, the bureau proposed formal authority to regulate nonbank auto lenders. The proposed rule was more than 80 pages long and addressed marketing, credit reporting and collections.

Only lenders that underwrite or refinance more than 10,000 auto loans or leases per year would be regulated. That's certainly a higher threshold than the CFPB approved for mortgage lenders and remittance providers. In the CFPB's defense, that 10,000 loan figure captures about 90% of all nonbank auto lending activity, but it feels like the CFPB will give greater exclusion consideration to nonbank entities than it did to depository institutions.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray also alluded to the bureau's interest in regulating digital payment providers. Cordray didn't specifically mention Apple and its new Apple Pay service, but he made the announcement just two days after Apple's big event. For those who speak CFPB, reading between the lines couldn't be clearer.

Apple practically scoffed when asked by CU Times and others if it felt CFPB regulation was justified. The tech company insisted it is merely a link in the payments chain, not a service provider as defined by Dodd-Frank.

Nice try, Apple, but you're conveniently forgetting a couple of significant details.

Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin, who sits on the CFPB's Consumer Advisory board, wrote shortly after Apple's announcement that Apple is a service provider because Apple Pay would configure the payments data is it transmitting by 'tokenizing' card or account data during the payment process. I think the CFPB will probably agree with that logic.

Further, Apple will collect interchange income off each transaction, with experts predicting a 15 basis points charge. The CFPB follows the money, and isn't likely to let that kind of revenue slide without oversight.

Finally, Apple's recent iCloud file breach calls into question the company's ability to protect financial data stored on its devices.

Republicans will likely take control of the Senate and claim they have enough Democratic support to roll back some CFPB powers. That may be true, but I'm guessing the net result will be more rules.