The government should allow banks and software companies to negotiate the price of financial data freely.
Any day now, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected to propose new rules governing who pays for access to Americans’ financial data. Before it does, conservatives should get one thing straight: A consumer’s right to his financial information does not entitle a fintech company to unlimited use of somebody else’s infrastructure for free.
My colleague Todd Zywicki argued in these pages that allowing banks to charge for data access would undermine consumer choice and competition. I have cited Mr. Zywicki’s scholarship approvingly before, and he is a formidable defender of both. But on this question, he has the economics ...
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