(The Center Square) – Crypto and fintech leaders want President Donald Trump to stop banks from imposing new charges on customer data access, warning that such fees could curb innovation and limit choice.
Banks disputed the letter and its contents. The American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute and the Consumer Bankers Association said crypto companies want a “free ride” at the expense of banks.
The Financial Technology Association released a public letter from more than 80 business leaders urging Trump to oppose consumer data access fees.
The letter said the nation’s largest banks could start imposing these fees in September.
“Large banks are taking aggressive action to preserve their market position by imposing exorbitant new ‘account access’ fees that would prevent consumers from connecting their accounts to better financial products of their choice,” the FTA letter notes. “This access is critical to ensuring Americans have control of their own financial lives in a digital economy. More fundamentally, they are advancing a dangerous legal interpretation that a consumer’s right to their account information does not include the freedom to share access to a trusted application acting on their behalf.”
The letter warned: “If the large banks are successful, it will choke off access to the finances of consumers and businesses, effectively killing competition and crippling American innovation.”
The letter was signed by Gemini, Robinhood, the Crypto Council for Innovation, and the Blockchain Association, among others.
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, called the fees a “Wall Street shakedown.”
“This letter sent to President Trump is a wake-up call to every American who values competition and consumer choice. Big banks are trying to strangle innovation and rob Americans of their financial freedom,” he said. “These new ‘account access fees’ are nothing more than a Wall Street shakedown designed to block competitors and keep consumers trapped in a system built for and by the big banks. The Trump Administration should shut this down immediately.”
The FTA letter said the fees were designed to blunt competition.
“This is not a dispute over fair pricing; it is an anti-competitive move designed to consolidate power. It threatens to cripple innovative products and may cause small businesses and financial tools to shut down entirely,” the letter said. “With these fees set to impact the market in September, the White House should act immediately. Account access fees are not permitted under the law, and if they are allowed to go into effect it will undermine the pro-innovation consensus your Administration is building.”
Banks disputed those allegations, saying crypto companies are on the wrong side of the issue.
“Today’s letter is another extraordinary example of data aggregators and middlemen trying to mislead the Administration into supporting Biden-era policies for personal profit and the right to free ride off the major investments banks have made in protecting consumers’ data,” according to the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute and Consumer Bankers Association. “The double standard these companies want to perpetuate, where they may charge fees for service while banks are expected to provide the same service to these private companies for free, is absurd.”
The bank groups added: “The Administration has taken bold actions to strengthen U.S. competitiveness, enable innovation and protect consumers from bad actors. We look forward to seeing a personal financial data rights rule that comports with the statute, protects consumers and ensures a level playing field to encourage innovation, a process the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has already begun.”
