A coalition of US crypto, fintech and retail groups is uniting to defend open banking, warning in a letter that efforts by big banks to charge for data access could close connections between the financial system and digital wallets and stablecoins.
Groups including the Blockchain Association, Crypto Council for Innovation, National Association of Convenience Stores, and National Retail Federation have written to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asking the regulator to preserve key protections in its pending Rule 1033.
This regulation will empower consumers to freely share their financial data with third-party services, allowing them to connect bank accounts to crypto exchanges, stablecoin wallets, and other fintech platforms.
The coalition said big banks are lobbying to limit who qualifies as consumer representatives and impose fees for data access. The group said those changes would entrap incumbents, weaken competition and cut crypto and digital wallets’ link to the U.S. banking system.
“A strong open banking rule of thumb is vital for a competitive, prosperous and innovative financial services ecosystem,” the letter reads. “Over the past decade, many of the financial innovations used by Americans today were developed with the policy certainty that the United States was moving toward an open banking system.”
While banks say open banking will increase costs for them, the coalition argued that these costs – such as cloud storage and technology infrastructure – are routine and expected for any modern bank around the world.
The coalition warned that weakening Rule 1033 could cause the US to lag behind other major economies such as Britain, Singapore and Brazil, where open banking frameworks are already the norm.
“Strong open banking rules are what keeps America competitive,” the group wrote, urging the CFPB to finalize Rule 1033 “without succumbing to efforts by the largest banks to tax Americans’ access to their financial data.”