Statement from American Fintech Council (AFC) CEO, Phil Goldfeder, in Support of Bipartisan Congressional Letter on Personal Financial Data Rights Proposed Rule

“We fully support the recent bipartisan Congressional letter regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule on personal financial data rights, and share in the Congressmembers’ concerns regarding the proposed limitations to secondary uses of consumers’ financial data.

The letter, authored by both Democratic and Republican members of the House Committee on Financial Services, provides a clear, pragmatic perspective towards ensuring that consumers have access and control over their personal financial data, while also providing industry participants the opportunity to use collected data beyond the extremely limited parameters established under the CFPB’s proposed rule. As AFC noted in its previous letter on the matter, it is crucial that the CFPB allows for the responsible secondary use of consumers’ permissioned data, especially when that data is used to provide additional products or services that are beneficial to the consumer and when the permissioned data helps to improve the resilience of the financial services industry.

AFC fully concurs with the Congressmembers’ perspectives that the proposed rule’s restrictions “could discourage the advancement of innovations that benefit consumers and small businesses by curbing basic product improvements and the development of tools to fight fraud.” Thus, in the interest of encouraging innovations for the benefit of both consumers and the financial services industry, we stand aligned with the Congressional signatories in their recommendation for the CFPB to revise provisions of the proposed rule regarding the secondary use of consumer permissioned data.

AFC remains committed to working with the CFPB and Congress to ensure that responsible innovation is encouraged and that consumers are provided the best financial products and services through this endeavor.”