NEW YORK—As the CU Daily reported earlier, JPMorgan Chase has confirmed it is preparing to levy new fees on fintech data aggregators, citing what it says is an overwhelming volume of unnecessary data requests that are taxing its systems and increasing fraud risk, according to a new report.
In an internal memo viewed by CNBC and first reported by Bloomberg, JPMorgan noted that only 13% of the 1.89 billion data requests it received in June were tied to actual customer-initiated transactions. The remainder, according to the bank, came from fintech middlemen—such as Plaid and MX—repeatedly pinging its systems, even when users were inactive.
As the CU Daily reported here, the largest bank in the country has sent pricing sheets to data aggregators—the companies that serve as intermediaries between banks and fintechs–outlining new charges that may vary by use case, with payment-focused firms facing higher costs, according to the report.
JPMorgan’s plan has been met with opposition by a fintech trade association, which is pressing the Trump administration to stop the new fees from being charged, as reported here.
‘Massively Taxing Our Systems’
“Aggregators are accessing customer data multiple times daily, even when the customer is not actively using the app,” a systems employee wrote to retail payments head Melissa Feldsher, MSNBC reported. “These access requests are massively taxing our systems.”
JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, is in negotiations with several aggregators, with fees potentially taking effect as early as October. Bank officials say the cost of maintaining infrastructure to support rising data volumes and mitigating related fraud risks has become unsustainable.
Analysts suggested to MSNBC the move could disrupt a fintech ecosystem built on free access to consumer banking data, a for years data aggregators have offered connectivity between legacy banks and emerging fintech providers, powering features like budgeting tools, payment apps, and trading platforms.
Some ‘Scrutiny’
But as the CU Daily and MSNBC have reported, that foundation has come under scrutiny since May, when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed a legal challenge to the so-called “open banking” rule. Originally mandated during the Biden administration, the rule required banks to provide free access to customer-authorized data. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon publicly criticized the regulation, urging financial institutions to “fight back.”
According to the memo, JPMorgan’s API call volume has more than doubled in two years, while ACH transactions involving aggregators were 69% more likely to result in fraud claims. In June alone, the bank reported approximately $50 million in fraud tied to those transactions, a figure it projects could triple within five years.
Half of Volume From One Company
More than half of June’s API calls—1.08 billion—came from a single aggregator. While JPMorgan did not name the firms, CNBC identified Plaid as the largest source. Just 6% of Plaid’s requests were customer-initiated, JPMorgan said.
In a comment to MSNBC, Plaid disputed the characterization, stating that users give consent at sign-up and that periodic background data access enables features like fraud alerts and balance tracking.
“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,” the company told MSNBC.
Plaid also challenged JPMorgan’s fraud claims as “misleading” but did not provide specifics, the report said. Forbes has reported Plaid could face up to $300 million in new annual fees under JPMorgan’s proposal.
