EDITORIAL: Promoting financial freedom

America’s edge in financial innovation is under siege. But the threat isn’t coming from foreign competitors — it’s coming from a handful of powerful Wall Street banks trying to claw back control over how Americans live our financial lives.

Big bank giants are now waging a behind-the-scenes campaign to dismantle a rule that protects a fundamental freedom: your right to access and control your own financial data. If they succeed, it could mean the end of consumer choice, the death of financial innovation, and a devastating setback for American competitiveness.

At the center of this battle is the Dodd-Frank Section 1033 rule, also known as the Personal Financial Data Rights Rule. Originally launched under the Trump administration, the rule guarantees Americans the freedom to securely share their financial data with services outside the walls of their traditional bank. That includes peer-to-peer payment apps, crypto wallets, and alternative investment platforms.

Without this rule, the biggest banks could decide which apps you are allowed to use. Want to donate to a political campaign through Venmo? Better hope your bank allows it. Want to buy a Cybertruck using a digital wallet? You could be blocked.

This is the equivalent of needing your bank’s permission to write a check. That’s simply unacceptable in a modern economy.

Make no mistake: rolling back this rule isn’t about security or compliance — it’s about power. It’s about legacy institutions trying to choke off competition from upstart technologies that threaten their dominance. It’s about centralizing financial control in a few institutions that have proven they don’t always have the best interests of everyday Americans at heart.

This is not just bad policy, it is a direct assault on the free market and on President Donald Trump’s legacy of modernizing the financial system. The 1033 rule was part of a broader effort to expand innovation, unlock choice, and level the playing field for small businesses and consumers. It had bipartisan support and remains critical to keeping the United States ahead of rivals like China, which are investing heavily in digital financial infrastructure.

Preserving this rule isn’t just about protecting innovation. It is about defending economic freedom. If Americans can’t decide for themselves how to manage their money or which tools to use, we’ve lost something fundamental.

The Biden administration’s CFPB has introduced unnecessary overreach in how it’s trying to implement the rule. That concern should be addressed through clarifying guidance or targeted rulemaking. But eliminating the rule entirely would be a catastrophic mistake. It would invite lawsuits, alienate the broader financial industry, and hand legacy banks the control they are trying to regain.

The Trump coalition stands for growth, consumer choice, and market freedom. That coalition should oppose this power grab.

Now is the time to take a stand. Don’t let big banks rewrite the rules to serve themselves. Let’s keep America competitive, innovative, and free.