Contact: Laine Williams, (202) 897-4757, lwilliams@allonadvocacy.com
Washington, DC, October 21, 2025 – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) joined a coalition of trade associations representing fintech companies, digital asset firms, innovative banks, and Main Street businesses today submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging the agency to finalize a strong open banking rule that protects consumers’ rights to their financial data. Signers of the letter include the Financial Technology Association, American Fintech Council, Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, Financial Data and Technology Association, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Grocers Association, and National Retail Federation.
“Over 100 million Americans rely on open banking to access affordable, easy-to-use tools that help them take control of their financial lives and manage their businesses,” the coalition wrote. “These include digital payment apps, investment platforms, cryptocurrency wallets, and AI-powered financial assistants.” These services drive competition, create jobs, and give Americans greater freedom to meet their financial needs.
Big Bank Actions are Anti-Competitive and Threaten Financial Freedom
The coalition warned that consumer rights are under attack from large incumbent banks seeking to protect their market position and stifle competition. “The nation’s largest banks want to roll back open banking, weaken consumer financial data sharing, and crush competition to protect their position in the marketplace,” the letter states. If the large banks succeed, Americans will lose access to innovative tools they depend on and smaller banks and credit unions will struggle to compete.
Key Recommendations for 1033 Open Banking Rule
The coalition urged the CFPB to take two critical actions as it writes a new Section 1033 open banking rule:
1) Uphold Established Definition of “Representative”: The CFPB issued the open banking rule under clear statutory authority granted by Congress, which defines a “consumer” as “an individual or an agent, trustee, or representative acting on behalf of an individual.” The coalition called on the Bureau to uphold the established definition of “representative” that allows consumers to share their data with third-party services of their choosing.
“Narrowing the definition to only fiduciaries, as the banks argue, would not align with the intent of the statute and significantly hamper the way open banking functions today,” the coalition argued. A restrictive interpretation could force consumers to “manually download and upload their financial data to use the apps and services of their choice – a clunky and insecure process that defeats the purpose of open banking.”
2) Preserve the Prohibition on Data Access Fees: The coalition strongly opposed allowing big banks to charge fees for consumer data access, noting that the statutory language is clear: banks “shall make available” consumer financial data “upon request,” not upon charging a fee. “This isn’t a suggestion or a service banks can charge for – it’s a legal requirement,” the letter states. “Allowing banks to charge fees would let them pass their everyday operating costs onto consumers and competitors, which would undermine competition and consumer choice.”
Open Banking is Secure, Widespread, and Key to the Future of Financial Innovation
8 out of 10 Americans are using secure, consumer-permissioned data access to access the apps they want to use. Moving forward, the coalition argued that “the CFPB should anchor security standards in existing, well-established frameworks, supplemented by adaptable standards from recognized standard-setting organizations.” The coalition also called for accelerating the adoption of secure APIs (application programming interfaces), describing them as “the modern, secure way to share financial data.”
The coalition warned that failure to maintain strong open banking policies could harm American competitiveness on the global stage. “Strong open banking policies put us on par with leading economies, including the United Kingdom, Singapore, Brazil, India, Japan, Canada, and the European Union, which all safeguard consumers’ rights to their data,” the letter notes.
Click here to read the full joint trades comment letter and learn more about open banking and consumer financial data rights here.
