CFPB Rule 1033 and Open Banking

Also called Section 1033, personal financial data rights, open banking rule

The consumer financial data access rule, enjoined by a federal court and currently being rewritten, with data access fees the central fight.

What it is

Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act gives consumers rights over their financial data. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its Personal Financial Data Rights final rule on October 22, 2024, published November 18, 2024, effective January 17, 2025. It was intended to standardize how banks make consumer account data available to third parties, which is the plumbing beneath pay-by-bank, account-to-account payments and much of fintech. The rule is not in force. A federal court in Kentucky enjoined the CFPB from enforcing it, finding potential statutory authority violations, and the appeal has remained stayed while the Bureau revises. The Bureau issued a Personal Financial Data Rights Reconsideration advance notice of proposed rulemaking in August 2025, seeking input on the definition of representative, fee assessment, and data security and privacy threat analysis. As of August 2026 the reconsideration proposal was at the White House for review with its language not public. Reporting indicates the central fight is data access fees: whether to scrap the 2024 rule's blanket prohibition on charging for data access and instead allow data providers to charge after some number of free requests, with commentary suggesting the fundamental architecture of the 2024 framework could survive. The short version: the legal foundation of open banking in the United States is enjoined and being rewritten.

Why it matters to your business

If you are being pitched pay-by-bank or account-to-account payments as a permanent low-cost alternative to cards, ask what happens to the price if data access fees are permitted. The honest answer is that it could rise, and the responsible framing is cheaper than cards today with a repricing possibility. Pay-by-bank still wins in specific places: large tickets, recurring or expected payments, and situations with no rewards expectation. Association dues, marina slip fees, tuition, rent and business-to-business invoices. It loses at a bar or a boutique. This is education, not legal advice. The rule is enjoined and under revision; verify current status before relying on any statement here.

Where it gets contested

Banks argued the 2024 rule exceeded the Bureau's authority and imposed uncompensated infrastructure costs, since they would be required to build and maintain data access at their own expense. Fintechs and aggregators argued that free access is what makes competition possible and that charging per request would rebuild the moat the statute was meant to remove. The outcome matters commercially in a way that is easy to miss. If aggregators must pay banks for data, the cost of pay-by-bank rises, and pay-by-bank's principal selling point against debit is cost. A payments provider promising that bank payments will always be pennies is making a promise the rulemaking may not permit them to keep. What is unresolved is nearly everything: the final rule text, the fee structure, the enforcement date, and the appeal. Anyone describing open banking obligations as settled American law in 2026 is describing a rule that a court enjoined.

How to check it yourself

Ask any pay-by-bank provider what their pricing does if data access fees become permitted under the revised rule, and whether your contract lets them reprice. Get the answer before you build a customer promise on the current price.

Receipts

Claims above that are checkable, with where to check them. Published so you do not have to take anyone's word for it.

The CFPB Personal Financial Data Rights final rule was issued October 2024 with a January 2025 effective date
consumerfinance.gov ↗
The Bureau opened a Personal Financial Data Rights reconsideration rulemaking
consumerfinance.gov ↗
A Kentucky federal court enjoined enforcement, the appeal remains stayed, and data access fees are the central issue in the rewrite, which was at the White House for review as of August 2026
pymnts.com ↗
Reporting that the CFPB is readying changes to the open banking rule
pymnts.com ↗