Federal: Joint Coalition Letter Urging President Trump to Block Anti-Consumer Data Access Fees

The Honorable Donald J. Trump
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We are leaders of companies and organizations doing business in America and helping American companies grow and thrive, who write to you today because we share your commitment to a dynamic, competitive U.S. economy. That shared vision for economic freedom is under direct threat from the nation’s largest banks.

Your Administration has acted decisively to correct the misguided policies of the past, and is laying the groundwork for the U.S. to build a truly 21st-century economy, and to lead the world in digital assets, artificial intelligence, and financial innovation.

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.

This undermines the long-standing principle of consumer choice, which you vigorously supported during your first Administration. 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 that are the backbone of our economy.

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.

We urge you to use the full power of your office and the broader Administration to prevent the largest institutions from raising new barriers to financial freedom. This is fundamentally about honoring the informed consent of consumers who choose to link their accounts to innovative tools that will power America’s future in digital assets, artificial intelligence and payments innovation. Account access and data belong to the customer.

This is a defining moment. We cannot allow the most powerful, entrenched banks to close the door on a more open and modern financial system. We stand ready to work with you to ensure America continues to lead the world in technology and innovation for the benefit of the American people.

Respectfully,

Penny Lee, President and CEO, Financial Technology Association

Ingo Uytdehaage, Co-CEO, Adyen

Phil Goldfeder, CEO, American Fintech Council

Alex Rampell, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

Ray Alvarez, CEO, ARK Ecosystem

Gary Bradshaw, CEO, AttendStar

Aya Kantorovich, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, August Digital

Sean Greene, Founder and CEO, Bambino Technologies, Inc.

Sarah Levy, CEO, Betterment

Michael Fisk, CEO, Blender

Summer Mersinger, CEO, Blockchain Association

Andrew Ayer, Founder and CEO, BlueNotary

Eyal Lifshitz, Founder and CEO, Bluevine

Pedro Franceschi, Founder and CEO, Brex

Zach Abrams, Co-Founder and CEO, Bridge

Zuben Mathews, Co-Founder and CEO, Brigit

Dag Syversen, CEO, Canterbury Pilgrimages and Tours, Inc.

Joshua Itano, CEO, CareCar, Inc.

Chris Britt, Co-Founder and CEO, Chime

Barney Hussey-Yeo, Founder and CEO, Cleo

Taylor Clark, President, Community Ally, Inc.

Matthew Beadlecomb, Co-Founder, Compost Nashville

Ji Hun Kim, CEO, Crypto Council for Innovation

Jason Wilk, Founder and CEO, Dave

James C. Killion, CEO, Digizent International LLC

Steven Tey, Founder and CEO, Dub.co.

Steve Ely, CEO, eCredable

Avichal Garg, Co-Founder and General Partner, Electric Capital

Steve Boms, Executive Director, Financial Data and Technology Association

Leslie G. Sarasin, President and CEO, FMI – The Food Industry Association

Cameron Winklevoss, Co-Founder and President, Gemini

Tyler Winklevoss, Co-Founder and CEO, Gemini

Alex Hackney, President, Hackney Enterprises, Inc.

Jordan Garn, CEO, Homerun Dev

Tefari Bailey, CEO, Hutsy Financial

Ben Stein, CEO, Jensen Technology, Inc. (Keeper)

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-Founder and CEO, Klarna

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO, Kraken and Chairman, Tribe Capital

Scott Sanborn, CEO, LendingClub

Jose Bethancourt, Co-Founder and CEO, Method Financial

Ryan Caldwell, Founder and CEO, MX

Henry O. Armour, President and CEO, National Association of Convenience Stores

Greg Ferrara, President and CEO, National Grocers Association

Matthew Haggard, Partner, One Part Rain, LLC

Raul Vazquez, CEO, Oportun

Matt Huang, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Paradigm

Evan Goldin, Co-Founder and CEO, Parkade

Matthew Renner, Chairman and Co-Founder, PassPass

Alex Chriss, President and CEO, PayPal

Jake Watson, Esq., CEO, Pepperbox TV

Robert Morris, CEO, Pionex

Luke Voiles, CEO, Pipe

Zach Perret, Co-Founder and CEO, Plaid

Jeff Berg, CEO, Planning Center

Christopher Yin, Founder and CEO, Plume Network

Jason Rosen, Founder and CEO, Prism Data

Saikiran Chandha, CEO, PubGenius, Inc.

Michael Seifert, CEO and Founder, PublicSquare

Daniel Uyemura, Co-Founder and CEO, PushPress

Nate Baker, Founder and CEO, Qualia Labs, Inc.

Ruben Martin, Co-Founder and CEO, Quivers

Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder and CEO, Remitly

Eugene Johnson, CEO, Revi

Meyer Malka, Ribbit Capital

Vlad Tenev, Chairman and CEO, Robinhood Markets, Inc.

Paul Osborne, Owner, Scoreboard

Tobi Lütke, Founder and CEO, Shopify

Chase Dalton, Founder and CEO, Silicon Signs

Anthony Noto, CEO, SoFi

Edward Vincent, CEO, SRA Watchtower

Benjamin Bottner, Founder and CEO, Steady Install, Inc.

Patrick Collison, Co-Founder and CEO, Stripe

Rafael Sands, Co-Founder and CEO, Tandem Space, Inc.

Victor Radzinsky, CEO, TaxDome

Warren Hogarth, Co-Founder and CEO, Tilt Finance, Inc.

Ian Prendergast, Co-Founder and CEO, Toothio, Inc.

Conor Lyden, Founder and CEO, Trustap

Dave Girouard, Founder and CEO, Upstart

Anton Koenig, Co-Founder and CEO, VideoGen

Bhagaban Behera, Co-Founder and CEO, Walrus Tech Inc

Jason Lloyd, President and CEO, WebBank

Garry Tan, President and CEO, Y Combinator

John Loughlin, CEO, Zenfolio

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