Coalition of fintech providers and business leaders calls on President Trump to block data access fees that threaten consumer choice and competition

Washington, D.C. (August 14, 2025) – The American Fintech Council (AFC), the premier industry association representing responsible fintech companies and innovative banks, today joined a broad coalition of business and finance leaders urging President Trump to prevent the nation’s largest financial institutions from imposing account access fees that would restrict consumers’ ability to use their own financial data.

In a public letter released this morning, AFC CEO Phil Goldfeder joined more than 80 CEOs and executives, including many AFC members, calling on the White House to take immediate action to stop the imposition of these fees, which are scheduled to take effect in September. The signers represent a diverse cross-section of the U.S. economy, including innovative banks, responsible fintech companies, startups, crypto platforms, retailers, and small businesses that rely on open banking to serve their customers.

“These fees are a dangerous attempt by incumbent banks to shut off consumer choice and entrench their dominance,” said Goldfeder. “Consumers have a right to control their own financial data, and use it to access the financial tools that work best for them. Charging third parties for access is a toll on legal, consumer-permissioned activity, and a direct threat to competition, responsible innovation, and financial inclusion.”

The letter echoes AFC’s longstanding position that consumer-permissioned data is foundational to the future of financial services. Blocking access or pricing it out of reach undermines American leadership in areas like real-time payments, AI-enabled financial tools, and responsible credit alternatives.

“AFC is proud to join this coalition and will always collaborate with industry partners to put the needs of consumers first,” added Goldfeder. “We hope our collective action will encourage the administration to take swift and decisive action to stop these anti-competitive fees before they reshape the financial ecosystem in a way that significantly harms small businesses, working families, and the American economy at large.”

A standards-based organization, AFC is the premier trade association representing the largest financial technology (Fintech) companies and innovative banks offering embedded finance solutions. AFC’s mission is to promote a transparent, inclusive, and customer-centric financial system by supporting responsible innovation in financial services and encouraging sound public policy. AFC members foster competition in consumer finance and pioneer products to better serve underserved consumer segments and geographies.

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