CFPB to Rewrite Open Banking Rule

In a recent court filing, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) revealed that it plans to rework a U.S. open banking rule aimed at establishing industry-wide standards for data sharing between banks, fintechs, and consumers. The Bureau plans to revise the rule through an accelerated rule making process.

“In light of recent events in the marketplace, the Bureau has now decided to initiate a new rulemaking to reconsider the Rule with a view to substantially revising it and providing a robust justification,” wrote CFPB attorneys in their motion to stay the case, according to Banking Dive. The CFPB had to respond to a deadline from the Financial Technology Association (FTA), who is defending the rule.

The fate of U.S. open banking faced new urgency in the last month, especially for fintechs, as JPMorgan Chase informed many data aggregators of new fees to access consumers’ financial information. If these fees are adopted, fintechs could see higher costs when handling transactions and luring customers away from banks.

Consumer Finance and Fintech Blog highlighted that the rule was meant to implement Section 1033 by mandating that financial institutions provide consumers and third parties authorized by consumers with access to account information through secure APIs. The rule was originally met with a lawsuit alleging that the CFPB exceeded its statutory authority, and banking groups sued the Bureau to block the rule.

The CFPB previously planned to draft a new rule entirely, a CFPB spokesperson revealed. However, they did not respond to questions about which areas of the rule it plans to revise, just that they would rework the rule at an expedited rate.

The rule was adopted in October, and is set to take effect for the biggest banks in the middle of 2026. There are compliance deadlines for other banks layered through 2030, though financial institutions with less than $850 million in assets are exempt.