Trump reviews CFPB open‑banking rule

Russ Vought said on July 15 that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was “very close” to releasing a new proposal on open banking, and American Banker reported on August 6 that the Trump administration is reviewing the draft. The rewrite would reopen one of the biggest fights in consumer finance: who controls access to bank-account data, on what terms, and whether banks can charge for it. The legal backdrop is Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which gives consumers a right to obtain and share their financial data. The policy backdrop is a court-blocked 2024 CFPB rule that the current bureau is now trying to replace. ### Why is the Trump administration revisiting this now? American Banker reported on August 6 that the administration is reviewing a “soon-to-be-released” proposal on consumer financial data rights. That follows Vought’s July remarks that the bureau supports open banking “as a concept” and was working to align the release with the possible Senate confirmation of Brian Johnson, Trump’s nominee to lead the CFPB full time. (americanbanker.com) The CFPB itself opened a formal reconsideration in August 2025 through an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on the Personal Financial Data Rights rule. That notice said the bureau was reconsidering open-banking issues in the 2024 rule implementing Section 1033. ### What exactly is Section 1033 supposed to do? Section 1033 is the part of the Consumer Financial Protection Act that requires rulemaking on personal financial data rights, and the CFPB says it is the statutory basis for consumers to access and share their financial information. (americanbanker.com) The bureau’s 2024 final rule required banks, credit unions and other providers to make certain consumer data available to consumers and authorized third parties. (consumerfinance.gov) The 2024 rule was designed to create a U.S. open-banking framework. In practice, that means consumers could authorize apps, aggregators or rival providers to pull account and transaction data more directly, instead of relying on older screen-scraping arrangements. The CFPB’s compliance materials describe the rule as implementing the “personal financial data right” under Section 1033. (consumerfinance.gov) ### Why are banks and fintechs fighting over fees and access? The central dispute is whether banks must provide data access for free or can charge third parties for it. The 2024 rule required covered institutions to provide access at no charge, and industry tracking of the current rewrite says the bureau has reopened the fee question as it revises the rule. Banks have argued that mandatory free access forces them to bear the cost and risk of maintaining data pipelines used by fintechs and aggregators. (consumerfinance.gov) Fintech and open-banking advocates have argued that charging fees could let incumbents slow or limit consumer-authorized switching and payments use cases. Payments Dive reported earlier that the current CFPB leadership had already moved in court against the prior rule even as market participants expected some form of open banking to survive. (fintech-zone.com) ### What happened to the 2024 CFPB rule? The 2024 Personal Financial Data Rights rule took effect in January 2025, but its implementation schedule is on hold while the Trump administration reviews it, according to industry compliance summaries and credit-union guidance. A federal court in Kentucky has enjoined enforcement, leaving the rule on the books but not operative in practice while the CFPB rewrites it. (paymentsdive.com) The July 2026 CFPB regulatory agenda, as described by industry lawyers, also pointed to continued reconsideration of prior rules under the current administration. That makes the forthcoming proposal the next concrete milestone rather than any missed 2026 compliance date from the earlier framework. (americascreditunions.org) ### Why does this matter for payments and bank competition? The proposal matters because open-banking rules shape how easily consumers can move data, link accounts and authorize third-party payment services. American Banker said the forthcoming proposal would bear directly on consumer financial data rights and open-banking access for payments. For banks, that affects deposit retention and the value of customer relationships. (consumerfinancialserviceslawmonitor.com) For fintechs, aggregators and crypto-linked payment firms, it affects whether they can build services on top of bank-account data without negotiating case-by-case access. Politico Pro reported the rewrite is setting up the next phase of a fight between Wall Street banks and the fintech and crypto industries. (americanbanker.com) ### What should readers watch next? A CFPB proposal or Federal Register notice is the next document that will matter, because it will show how the bureau answers the fee question and defines authorized access, liability and scope. Vought said in July the proposal was close, and American Banker reported on August 6 that the White House was reviewing it. (subscriber.politicopro.com) Brian Johnson’s Senate confirmation process is another marker to watch because Vought said the bureau was timing the release with that possibility. After publication, banks, fintechs, data aggregators and trade groups will get a formal comment window before any final rule is adopted. (bankingjournal.aba.com)