5 days ago
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On Thursday, Demand Progress Education Fund and 12 other consumer advocacy groups warned that major banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America are trying to control the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new open banking rule, while also simultaneously suing to block it. The rule makes it easier for customers to switch financial providers by preventing banks from holding their financial data captive.
The letter warns that JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, Capital One, PNC Financial Services, TD Bank and Royal Bank of Canada are on the board of Financial Data Exchange (FDX), which has applied to receive standard-setting authority for the open banking rule. These seven giants are also on the board of the Bank Policy Institute, which is suing to block the rule altogether. The letter asks the CFPB to reject FDX’s application so long as these seven banks remain on the organization’s board.
Demand Progress Education Fund has been a strong supporter of the CFPB’s work to protect consumers, and was an early champion of the bureau’s open banking rule. The following is a statement from Demand Progress Education Fund Corporate Power Director Emily Peterson-Cassin:
“It would be a flagrant conflict of interest for the same banks who are suing to block the open banking rule because it threatens their market dominance to also be in charge of implementing it. The American people are fed up with Wall Street controlling every aspect of their lives and the open banking rule is an opportunity to give all of us some financial freedom. The CFPB must stop this ploy by the biggest banks to keep us trapped under their thumbs.”
The signatories of the letter include Demand Progress Education Fund, American Economic Liberties Project, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Economic Integrity, Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc., Lake Research Partners, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Maine People’s Alliance, Oregon Consumer League, Oregon Consumer Justice, Public Citizen and Public Justice Center.
