Nov 21 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley tech giants and others

who together process more than 13 billion financial transactions

annually through digital wallets and payment apps will be

subject to government supervision, the U.S. Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau said.

The new rule finalized on Thursday will bring a burgeoning

consumer service under the same scrutiny faced by banks while

helping protect the privacy of vast amounts of consumer data and

preventing fraud and the illegal closure of their accounts, the

agency said.

The regulations, first proposed a year ago to govern digital

services such as Apple Wallet, Google Pay and

Venmo, come as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to make

far-reaching changes to federal regulators' conduct when he

takes office next year, which could cast doubt on the rule's

future.

"Digital payments have gone from novelty to necessity and

our oversight must reflect this reality," CFPB Director Rohit

Chopra said in a statement.

Regulators' supervision entails detailed internal scrutiny

to ensure companies' legal compliance with federal law,

something banks routinely face.

While some bank industry representatives had welcomed the

move, saying providers of bank-like services should be regulated

like banks, Big Tech and some financial tech companies were not

happy, claiming the regulations would stifle innovation and

squeeze startups out of the business.

The CFPB said the final rule contained significant changes

from the initial proposal. A company will now need to process at

least 50 million transactions a year to be covered by the rule,

not 5 million as originally proposed.

The rule will now apply only to transactions in U.S.

dollars, whereas the agency had initially said it could apply to

digital assets that have monetary value and can be used to make

purchases.

The rule will take effect 30 days after publication in the

Federal Register, the official journal for government

regulations.