JPMorgan Chase is preparing to impose fees on fintech data aggregators like Plaid and MX, accusing them of flooding its systems with excessive, non-customer-initiated data requests that are both costly to maintain and prone to abuse.
The development, reported by CBNC, signals a major shift in the dynamics of open banking and could reshape the business models of many financial technology firms that have built services on free, direct access to customers’ bank data.
In a memo sent last week to JPMorgan’s retail payments head Melissa Feldsher, a company systems employee warned that aggregators are “accessing customer data multiple times daily, even when the customer is not actively using the app,” and that these access requests are “massively taxing our systems.” The memo, seen by CNBC, cited 1.89 billion data requests to JPMorgan’s systems in June alone, of which only 13% were tied to customer-initiated transactions.
The rest of the API calls — which form the backbone of data exchanges between banks and fintech apps — were largely associated with product improvements, fraud detection, or, in some cases, outright data harvesting for resale, according to a person familiar with the internal memo.
A Looming Fee and Industry Blowback
JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S. by assets, is reportedly set to begin charging fees for API access as early as October. That move has triggered backlash from fintech executives, crypto entrepreneurs, and venture capital investors who say the bank is abandoning the ethos of open banking and instead engaging in “anti-competitive, rent-seeking behavior.”
But JPMorgan insists the fees are necessary to cope with ballooning infrastructure costs and fraud risks. The bank’s internal data shows that the total API call volume has more than doubled over the past two years. In particular, ACH (automated clearing house) payments routed through aggregators were found to be 69% more likely to result in fraud claims, leading to $50 million in fraud costs for JPMorgan last year — a number it expects to triple within five years.
Among the 13 fintech aggregators tracked by the bank, one company accounted for more than 1.08 billion API requests in June alone — over half of the month’s total traffic. Although not named in the memo, CNBC confirmed that this dominant aggregator is Plaid, which JPMorgan’s data shows initiated only 6% of its API calls based on active user transactions.
Fintech’s Defense: This Is Industry Standard
Plaid has pushed back strongly against the bank’s accusations. In a statement, the company said JPMorgan’s interpretation of the data “misrepresents how data access works,” adding that once users grant permission to connect their accounts to fintech apps, ongoing background data syncing is an industry standard.
“Calling a bank’s API when a user is not present once they have authorized a connection is a standard industry practice supported by all major banks,” Plaid said. This ensures timely updates for important financial notifications, such as overdraft warnings or signs of suspicious activity.
Plaid also disputed JPMorgan’s claim that data aggregators were behind the surge in fraud, calling the assertion “misleading,” although it did not provide additional evidence. Instead, Plaid emphasized growing consumer demand for smarter and faster financial tools — a demand that inherently fuels higher data usage.
“To be clear, we believe it is essential that the data-sharing ecosystem works for everyone, including consumers, fintech developers, and financial institutions – many of whom leverage open banking in their own products,” the company added.
A Shifting Regulatory Environment
At the heart of the dispute lies a regulatory battle over the future of open banking in the U.S. A rule passed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) during the Biden administration mandated that banks must provide data access to authorized third parties free of charge. But this rule is now facing legal challenges, with a major lawsuit led by the banking industry aiming to dismantle it.
Just a week after the rule’s passage in May, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called on fellow bankers to “fight back” against what he described as burdensome and unfair regulation. If the courts ultimately strike down the CFPB’s open banking directive, fintech aggregators may be forced to start paying banks substantial fees, and JPMorgan’s move could be the first domino to fall.
For Plaid, Forbes estimates that JPMorgan’s proposed fee structure could cost the company up to $300 million annually. The financial pressure would be far more manageable for smaller aggregators, though only four others in JPMorgan’s memo registered more than 100 million API calls in June.
A Market Redefining Moment
The ongoing negotiations between JPMorgan and the aggregators are reportedly active and evolving, with insiders noting that some companies are now open to “right-sizing” their call volumes. One individual close to the talks said, “I think both sides fully acknowledge there are things they could do to right-size call volume.”
But what’s playing out now is more than just a corporate spat — it’s the emergence of a new market reality. Fintech’s business model has long rested on free and easy access to user data from incumbent banks. If the legal protections underpinning that access collapse, and major institutions like JPMorgan begin charging hefty fees, fintech companies may be forced to radically rethink their operations.
