Banks may soon be able to charge fintechs for customer data, per CFPB (TWIF 6/26)

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The CFPB is unfortunately preparing an open banking rewrite that would let banks impose access fees on fintechs after a set number of customer data pulls, essentially rationing fintech access to consumer financial data as part of its overhaul of the Biden-era Dodd-Frank 1033 rule.

The original rule was a pro-consumer/pro-fintech data rule that allowed bank data to be portable so that consumers could access better products. A tiered fee structure shifts the balance back toward banks, which have been lobbying hard for this.

Large fintechs can absorb data fees; smaller players and neobanks building on top of them may face margin pressure.

Like many decisions from current CFPB leadership, if passed, this rewrite would benefit banks and entrenched interests at the expense of consumer affordability and choice in financial products.

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