CFPB to Update Bank Data Access Rules for Fintechs

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue a new rule in the coming weeks regarding the interpretation of Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. This rule will supersede a Biden-era mandate that required banks to provide financial technology firms access to customer data at zero cost, a policy that forced banks to absorb the operational and cybersecurity expenses of maintaining the necessary APIs.

Under the Trump administration, the agency is reportedly considering a hybrid regime. This approach would maintain zero price controls on some transactions while allowing others to be priced by the market. These developments come as banks face increasing costs to support data transmissions to platforms such as Venmo, Zelle, and Robinhood.

Some critics argue that the administration should fully reject price controls in favor of a free-market approach. They point to recent private sector activity as evidence that commercial terms can be negotiated independently. Specifically, JPMorgan Chase reached a data-access agreement with the aggregator Plaid using a non-zero pricing structure.