Today, NACS President and CEO Henry Armour signed a letter, along with over 80 CEOs, asking the Trump Administration to address open banking policies.
The signatures on the letter represent a variety of businesses from a broad cross-section of the economy, including innovative banks, fintech firms, crypto companies, retailers, Main Street businesses, startups and more.
The letter states:
“Today, the progress your Administration has made is being actively threatened as some of the nation’s biggest banks find new ways to deny consumers access to basic financial services. 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. 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 states that this undermines the long-standing principle of consumer choice. 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 in three critical, future-defining fields:
Cryptocurrency: America's ability to lead in the responsible development of digital assets depends on safe, reliable on-ramps connecting our banking system to the new ecosystem. Severing this connection will drive innovation offshore and diminish U.S. influence.
Artificial Intelligence: The entire promise of personalized AI to help Americans manage their financial lives hinges on these tools acting as a consumer's authorized agent. The banks' position would grant them powerful control over the future of financial AI assistants that might help consumers find better deals or manage their lives.
Digital Wallets and Payments: By blocking access, banks will stifle the growth of low-cost, innovative payments, reinforcing reliance on legacy payment networks and increasing costs for the small businesses.
“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. 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,” the letter stated.
NACS, along with its coalition partners in the Merchants Payments Coalition, will continue to lead efforts to promote policy alternatives to the high fees associated with traditional credit card payments.