Eric Goldberg

Eric I. Goldberg is a Seattle-based fintech partner with deep expertise in consumer financial services regulations, payments, and lending. With over 20 years of experience spanning federal regulatory work and private practice, Eric is widely respected on both coasts. He is a trusted name in the Bay Area fintech industry and, until 2018, served as senior regulatory counsel at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he shaped national policy on consumer finance. His broad institutional experience positions him as an essential advisor to both established firms and emerging fintech disruptors.

Eric helps financial institutions and startups develop compliant business models through managing federal regulatory requirements, state licensing strategies, and bank partnerships. His particular expertise in lending, payments, and fintech products—including Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and Earned Wage Access (EWA)—is deeply rooted in his CFPB regulatory experience. He advises on traditional banking regulatory issues as well as emerging payment services and cutting-edge fintech innovations involving cryptocurrency and stablecoins, card issuance, Fed master accounts, AI and agentic payments, money transmission, and consumer data aggregation services. Eric also evaluates UDAAP risk and counsels on complex legal frameworks including EFTA, TILA, TISA, GLBA, BSA, MLA, the Dodd-Frank Act, the Federal Reserve Act, the FDIC Act and the FTC Act.

Eric works closely with his clients to develop and implement national regulatory and legislative strategies that allow their products to flourish. In this work, Eric engages with regulators and other policymakers on behalf of his clients at the federal and state levels.

Chambers-ranked, Eric runs a broad practice that also supports litigation and transactional matters for top-tier clients at the firm. His influence on the fintech industry is profound: During his time at the CFPB, Eric played a pivotal role in its payments regulatory work, spearheading policy development on deposit accounts, credit cards, cryptocurrency, and blockchain. His contributions included extending Regs E and Z to prepaid accounts and mobile wallets, driving amendments to enhance the remittance transfer rule, and leading the CFPB's now-rescinded arbitration agreements rule. Eric also guided the development of the Bureau's 2017 principles on consumer-authorized financial data sharing.

He remains active with leading trade associations such as the Consumer Bankers Association and the Money Services Business Association. Before joining the CFPB, Eric defended clients in consumer finance class actions, handling complex cases across both federal and state courts.

Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies and the Subcommittee on Digital Technologies Consumer Protection, New York City Bar Association

Fintech Editorial Board, Law360, 2023, 2025