Op-Ed: Terry Schilling: Debanked: How Big Banks Are Hijacking Financial Freedom—And How To Fight Back

Americans’ financial freedom is under siege. As big, woke banks tighten their grip, they’re weaponizing their power to cut off access to the financial system at will—silently “debanking” individuals, conservatives, and businesses with no warning, no explanation, and no recourse. This isn’t just about banking; it’s about who gets to play in the economy—and who gets left out.

For years, banks have maintained near-total control over the financial sector, continuously deploying unfair tactics to tighten their grip on consumers’ financial lives. They impose fees for low account balance, overdrafts, monthly “maintenance”, cashing checks, or even withdrawing money. At the end of the day this hurts the middle class. President Trump has called out the banks on the campaign trail for their astronomical interest rates that hurt working class Americans. This relentless fee structure further pushes the working class out of the financial system, forcing them to fend for themselves. This systematic form of debanking is just another way banks are seizing control, and it is nothing new. During the World Economic Forum, President Trump boldly called out the Bank of America CEO for debanking conservatives. He is right, and no one regardless of their political beliefs should be debanked.

When a handful of legacy institutions control the gates to commerce, they decide who wins and who loses. Accounts frozen. Services denied. Relationships severed. The result? A financial system where power is hoarded by the few.

But this isn’t just about losing access to banks. It’s about losing economic freedom. When financial institutions can exile you from the economy, they’re not just controlling your money—they’re controlling your life. The very institutions that claim to protect consumers are stripping them of autonomy, choice, and power.

The result is a rigged system: fewer options, higher costs, and a financial landscape that’s stale and stagnant.

This dynamic is particularly visible in the big bank’s recent lawsuit challenging the CFPB's Section 1033 rule – a clear example of entrenched institutions resisting measures designed to give consumers more control over their own financial data. The rule gives Americans the freedom to use the financial apps they want, whether it is opening a crypto account or paying for a Cybertruck without getting charged bank or card fees. The Bank Policy Institute, representing the biggest incumbent Woke Street banks, is suing to overturn the rule so that its members can choke off American’s access to the services they want.

President Trump stood on the stage of the World Economic Forum and called out Bank of America's CEO to his face for de-banking conservative customers. Trump has put woke CEO's on the run across the country, from Meta cancelling their censorship regime, to Walmart ending DEI. Americans are fed up with corporate America censoring and deplatforming because of their beliefs. More competition is a good thing, and protecting consumers from big banks is pivotal for innovation.

Terry Schilling is the president of APP