Fintechs Rethink US Expansion as Open-Banking Policy Wavers

Open banking allows consumers to authorize third parties to access account data, supporting services ranging from payments and lending to personal-finance apps. The US framework stems from Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, but repeated policy shifts have contrasted with mandatory data-sharing regimes in Europe. The stakes are substantial: Mastercard paid $825 million for US data-connectivity provider Finicity in 2020, underscoring how much the industry had invested in an American open-banking market.

The retreat became more visible on Aug. 22, 2025, when Visa closed its US open-banking operation and said it would focus on high-potential markets including Europe and Latin America. JPMorgan Chase had told fintechs in July that access to customer data could carry fees, though no pricing was disclosed. A day before Visa’s closure was reported, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began rewriting its data-sharing rules, adding uncertainty for payments and fintech companies weighing where to deploy capital.