The news: Public responses are in for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) request for comment as it prepares to revise its open banking rule. The revision comes as a result of the Trump administration's rollback of Biden-era rules, which has once again shaken up a decade-long debate.

How we got here: The supposed final open banking rule was entered into the Federal Register by the Biden administration’s CFPB in October 2024. That rule was highly favorable to the fintech industry and left bankers irked. Reopening the debate has given the banking industry a chance to make its case to a more receptive audience. 

Banks haven’t waited for new rulemaking to take an aggressive stance. When the CFPB first threatened to rescind the rule, JPMorgan Chase announced that it would charge for access to its customers' bank account data. Payment companies faced higher fees. JPMorgan and Plaid later announced an agreement where Plaid would pay for that access.

Bank reactions: The Bank Policy Institute, whose views are a proxy for the banking industry, had a number of complaints about prior versions of the open banking rule that it wants the CFPB to address in its revision. It argues:

• Fintechs should not be allowed to access bank data just because a consumer grants them the authority.
• The CFPB can’t prohibit banks from charging fees for access to consumers’ banking information.
• The original rule exposed banks and consumers to too much risk.
• A private marketplace for open banking already exists in the US, and there’s no need for a government solution.

Our take: Banks have good reasons to be upset with the original rule and are using this rulemaking opportunity to relitigate the issues they lost on. Their less fintech-friendly angle risks rupturing industry relationships that were crucial to the private-sector solution. However, it gives them a defensive posture to protect what they see as their business interests under threat.