Individuals should own and control their personal financial data, and banks being allowed to charge a fee to access said data, including for the third party actors an individual expressly authorizes, stands in direct contrast to this principle. Big banks have long fought to undermine open banking proposals over unsubstantiated claims that doing so would create security risks. This claim is undermined by big banks’ record of mishandling and profiting off of the very same user financial data. Given their track record, it is difficult to reconcile big banks’ opposition to open banking rules as being rooted in a desire to protect users’ privacy as opposed to an effort to maintain their ability to limit data portability. JPMorgan, among the major banks who have worked to undermine CFPB open banking rules, moved to impose data access rates in July 2025 amid uncertainty over the 2024 Final Rule’s fate in court. 
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​Big banks have long depicted themselves as institutions whose scale allows them to provide superior products versus smaller competitors. However, it is the very scale (and subsequent power) of big banks that ultimately limit consumers’ banking options. Unilateral control of consumers' financial data, such as a users’ full transaction history, gives these institutions an effectively insurmountable advantage over would-be competitors capable of offering better rates or services. Citing the CFPB’s own analysis, economist Hal Singer noted in an article in The Sling that consumers could reap some $677 million a year in a world where strong open banking rules are enacted and give way to a more competitive banking landscape. 

Additionally, it’s worth noting that, despite their size and structural market advantage, big banks often offer comparatively poor financial products. APY rates for savings accounts at large banks such as Bank of America (BoA) or Chase are significantly lower than many competitors, something that many consumers already locked into their longtime choice of bank may be unaware of. As Rohit Chopra himself noted, big banks are aware that it is “more difficult to change your direct deposit or to change your automatic payments”, leading many people who remain with a bank for an extended period of time “earning rates that are actually way lower on their deposit accounts and are paying higher [rates] on their credit cards.” As a result, big banks embroiled in controversy over misuse of consumer data and implementing excessive junk fees on their customers do not feel compelled to improve their products or services.