U.S. consumer bureau delays prepaid card rules into 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Thursday it would delay the effective date of new restrictions on prepaid cards until April 2019, citing industry needs for more time to comply.

The agency had already said in December it would push back the rule, which would require greater disclosures and overdraft limits for the cards, to an unspecified date. The rule was originally intended to take effect in April 2018.

In June, the agency proposed changes to those rules, originally completed in 2016, in an effort to make it easier for the industry to comply. One proposed change would require customers to register accounts in order to receive fraud and error protection benefits.

The rules finalized Thursday stipulate that customers cannot register to receive those protections retroactively, only for potential problems in the future, which the bureau said will "encourage prompt registration."

(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by David Gregorio)