Letter highlights need for harmonized rules, clearer disclosures, and balanced cancellation requirements across digital and traditional channels

Washington, D.C. (April 14, 2026) – The American Fintech Council (AFC), the largest industry association representing both responsible fintech companies and innovative banks, submitted a comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) concerning Prenotification Negative Option Plans. The letter supports the FTC’s effort to evaluate and modernize its approach to negative option marketing and calls for a clear, technology-neutral framework that strengthens consumer protections while preserving legitimate subscription-based business models.

“Negative option arrangements can provide real value to consumers when they are transparent, clearly understood, and easy to cancel, but those benefits depend on strong disclosures and informed consent,” said Phil Goldfeder, CEO of the American Fintech Council. “As subscription models and digital commerce continue to evolve, it is essential that regulatory frameworks evolve as well to protect consumers without limiting responsible innovation.”

In its letter, AFC supports modernizing the Negative Option Rule to create a coherent, technology-neutral framework that improves consumer understanding and regulatory consistency. The current regime spans Section 5 of the FTC Act, ROSCA, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, creating fragmented, channel-specific obligations that increase compliance burden and risk consumer confusion. This patchwork can also result in duplicative requirements where ROSCA already provides clear standards for disclosure, informed consent, and simple cancellation. AFC urges the FTC to streamline obligations for ROSCA-covered entities, including consideration of an explicit exemption, to reduce overlap. It also supports a harmonized, principles-based approach across channels grounded in transparency, informed consent, and clear cancellation rights.

Additionally, the letter highlights the importance of clear, salient disclosure and consent standards that help consumers understand key terms of negative option arrangements, including recurring charges and cancellation rights. AFC also supports express informed consent through mechanisms such as affirmative checkboxes and digital acknowledgments when paired with meaningful disclosures, and emphasizes simple, accessible cancellation while preserving reasonable operational flexibility. The letter also calls for a balanced approach to “save” offers that allows alternatives without interfering with a consumer’s ability to cancel.

“Recurring billing arrangements require clear, durable standards that ensure consumers understand what they are agreeing to and how they can exit,” said Ian P. Moloney, Chief Policy Officer of the American Fintech Council. “We encourage the FTC to prioritize transparency, informed consent, and straightforward cancellation while reducing unnecessary fragmentation and preserving space for responsible innovation. We look forward to continuing to engage with the Commission as this process advances.”

The letter further emphasizes that any rulemaking should be grounded in a strong evidentiary record focused on demonstrable consumer harm, including deceptive upsells and digital dark patterns that obscure recurring charges or complicate cancellation. AFC also urges alignment with existing federal and state regimes, along with clear guidance, safe harbors where appropriate, and implementation timelines that reflect operational realities. Additionally, the letter notes the FTC’s existing enforcement authority and calls for targeted rulemaking and clear guidance to ensure practical, predictable consumer protections without unnecessary regulatory overlap.

A standards-based organization, the American Fintech Council (AFC) is the largest and most diverse trade association representing financial technology (fintech) companies and innovative banks. On behalf of over 150 member companies and partners, AFC promotes a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system by supporting responsible innovation in financial services and encouraging sound public policy. AFC members foster competition in consumer finance and pioneer products to better serve underserved consumer segments and geographies.

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