JPMorgan tells fintech firms to start paying for customer data

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has told financial-technology companies that it will start charging fees amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars for access to their customers’ bank account information – a move that threatens to upend the industry’s business models.

The largest US bank has sent pricing sheets to data aggregators — which connect banks and fintechs — outlining the new charges, according to people familiar with the matter. The fees vary depending on how companies use the information, with higher levies tied to payments-focused companies, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. 

A representative for JPMorgan said the bank has invested significant resources to create a secure system that protects consumer data. 

“We’ve had productive conversations and are working with the entire ecosystem to ensure we’re all making the necessary investments in the infrastructure that keeps our customers safe,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The fees — expected to take effect later this year depending on the fate of a Biden-era regulation — aren’t final and could be negotiated.

The charges would drastically reshape the business for fintech firms, which fundamentally rely on their access to customers’ bank accounts. Payment platforms like PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Venmo, cryptocurrency wallets such as Coinbase Global Inc. and retail-trading brokerages like Robinhood Markets Inc. all use this data so customers can send, receive and trade money. Typically, the firms have been able to get it for free.

Many fintechs access data using aggregators such as Plaid Inc. and MX, which provide the plumbing between fintechs and banks. The new fees  — which vary from firm to firm — could be passed from the aggregators to the fintechs and, ultimately, consumers. The aggregator firms have been in discussions with JPMorgan about the charges, and those talks are constructive and ongoing, another person familiar with the matter said.

JPMorgan’s move comes as the fate of a controversial data-sharing rule hangs in the balance. The open-banking measure, finalized in October, enables consumers to demand, download and transfer their highly-coveted data to another lender or financial services provider for free. 

Proponents argue it enables customers to access a wider pool of financial services and fosters greater competition. But the banking industry, which immediately sued to block the measure, said the arrangements could stoke fraud and expose them to greater liability. JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has publicly flagged the risks.

Under Donald Trump, a much-stripped back CFPB has asked a federal judge to vacate the open-banking rule, leaving its future in question.

JPMorgan’s proposed fees in some cases would eclipse the revenue certain companies generate on a single transaction by as much as 1000%, one of the people said.