Stripe among first fintechs to file opposition to JPMorgan fees
The comments by the payments-focused firm come as the CFPB attempts to revamp its rule governing the sharing of personal financial data
[NEW YORK] Stripe is among the first financial-technology firms to directly and publicly appeal to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take immediate action against banks charging for access to their customers’ financial data.
Allowing JPMorgan Chase to charge fees while the CFPB considers whether to allow the bank and others in the industry to do so “will cause significant damage to the marketplace and consumers”, Stripe said in comments filed with the agency on Friday (Aug 29) and made public on Tuesday.
The comments by Stripe, a payments-focused firm, come as the CFPB attempts to revamp its rule governing the sharing of personal financial data. The company acknowledged that it’s commenting at an “early juncture”, but said that allowing banks to levy charges while the regulatory landscape is unclear would mean that “thousands of businesses and millions of consumers will suffer irreparable harm before the CFPB can finalise a rule that prohibits or limits such fees”.
Stripe laid out several options for the CFPB, including potentially bringing enforcement actions against banks that move to charge fees while the agency works on its new rule and reporting “anti-competitive conduct” that the CFPB finds to the Federal Trade Commission or Justice Department.
Stripe’s letter to the CFPB is the latest move in a fight that started in July when JPMorgan notified data aggregators such as Plaid that it would begin charging significant fees for accessing customer data. JPMorgan argues that aggregators, which connect third-party fintechs to customer-account information, are freeloaders that take advantage of infrastructure built by banks.
In the middle of the fight between aggregators, fintechs and JPMorgan is the CFPB. During the waning days of the Biden administration, the agency finalised a rule that, in part, barred banks from charging for access to customer-deposit and credit-card account information.
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Banking trade groups sued to block the rule almost immediately, and US President Donald Trump’s administration asked a court to vacate it, calling the open banking rule “unlawful”. The CFPB changed its stance after supporters of the rule, in particular cryptocurrency companies with close ties to the White House, blasted JPMorgan’s proposed fees.
The CFPB released what is known as an “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” seeking input on a reshaped rule last month. The CFPB has been largely hobbled by the Trump administration, which has tried to fire most of the CFPB’s employees, but that move has been put on hold by courts.
Before Stripe sent its letter, fintech trade groups such as the Financial Technology Association have led the charge against JPMorgan’s proposed fees. The association is also defending the CFPB’s rule in court. BLOOMBERG
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