Summary
The White House is reviewing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's latest proposal on open banking, moving the agency closer to releasing a new framework implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB submitted its plan for reshaping the Biden-era regulation to the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on Tuesday. The proposal would allow banks to impose fees for fintechs to access customer deposit and credit card account information after a to-be-determined number of data pulls.
Key Facts
- CFPB submitted open banking proposal to White House OIRA for review (Tuesday)
- Proposal would allow banks to charge fintechs/data aggregators for data access after a to-be-determined number of data pulls
- Implements Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act
- Biden-era open banking rule (2024) challenged by BPI and Kentucky Bankers Association, subject to court injunction
- CFPB reportedly considering a framework allowing baseline data sharing at no cost while permitting fees above certain thresholds
- Banks advocate for flexibility to charge for data access and shared data security obligations
- Fintechs argue against permitting access fees
- Part of broader reshaping of the 2024 regulation under the current administration
Why It Matters
The CFPB's open banking proposal is a pivotal moment for the future of consumer financial data sharing in the US. The framework — allowing banks to charge fintechs for data access after a threshold of data pulls — would reshape the economics of the open banking ecosystem. Banks have long argued for the ability to charge for data access and for shared data security obligations, while fintechs contend that access fees would undermine the consumer data portability that Section 1033 was designed to enable. The outcome will determine whether open banking in the US becomes a paid, bank-controlled data marketplace or a free, consumer-driven data-sharing regime. For fintechs, data aggregators, and banks alike, the proposal's fee structure is the central battleground — and the White House review brings it one step closer to an official release.