Mastercard Stands by Open Banking As Financial Industry Giants Move to Monetize Data

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach recently voiced support for consumer data-sharing just as JPMorgan Chase and other financial industry leaders moved to monetize access to customer information.

Open banking, and an institution’s ability to charge third parties for data access, are big issues in the financial world right now. Miebach’s comments support open banking while regulators and industry participants figure out just what such a system may look like over the coming months and years.

“Our fundamental belief is that consumer consented data and their ability to share that is very important, and that will be a winning proposition over time,” Miebach said during the company’s earnings call for 2025’s second quarter, according to a recent report in Payments Dive.

“The whole idea that a consumer can use their data footprint to avail themselves of better services in the finance space … I think it’s a good notion, and it generally resonates and will not go away,” he added.

Recent moves by banking leaders reinforce Miebach’s view that open banking, and the competitive opportunities it creates, will remain a driving force in the industry.

JPMorgan Chase has started distributing details of its plan to charge companies for access to customer information.

JPMorgan Chase made waves last month when it announced to financial technology outfits that it would begin to charge them fees to access information on customer bank accounts. 

“We’ve had productive conversations and are working with the entire ecosystem to ensure we’re all making the necessary investments in the infrastructure that keeps our customers safe,” a JPMorgan Chase representative said in a statement to Bloomberg.

JPMorgan Chase topped a list by the Nilson Report this year that ranked credit card issuers in the U.S. by purchase volume. Cardholders spent more than $1.3 trillion with JPMorgan Chase’s cards in 2024, which is hundreds of billions more than they spent using any other issuer’s card. When an industry leader speaks, other stakeholders tend to take notice.

The bank has begun sharing pricing details with data companies that link banks and fintechs. The American Banker reported that PNC Bank is considering imposing similar fees. 

This year is shaping up to be a significant one for both proponents and opponents of open banking. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized guidance for open banking in 2024 that carved a path for consumers to have more control over their financial information and share it with third parties.

The guidance also “requires banks to share that data with another lender or financial services provider for free,” according to the Bloomberg report.

But the CFPB has signaled that it seeks to make changes to its open banking rule, though the extent of those changes remains to be seen. 

Open banking will allow issuers to gain a more complete picture of a potential borrower’s credit behaviors, said Cristian Bravo Roman, a Professor in the Department of Statistical and Actuarial Sciences at Western University in Canada. 

Roman said open banking will allow companies to “measure both credit risk and transaction fraud in a much more detailed way.”

“If you have a bank account with Bank A, and a credit card with Bank B, each bank will only have partial information from your other products, such as whether you missed a payment, because those are reported to the credit bureaus,” Roman told us. “In an open banking setting, each bank could connect to the other and understand in detail your full behavior.”

That practice would allow credit card issuers to offer potential customers products and rates that reflect a cardholder’s comprehensive financial history instead of an incomplete risk profile an issuer may form after reviewing only a portion of a person’s financial data.

Brendan Deakin, General Manager, U.S. Market, for software company Provenir, expanded on the improved credit and fraud-risk assessment opportunities open banking can bring to card issuers.

With open banking, Deakin said “issuers can leverage real-time, granular financial data to better assess creditworthiness, price risk more accurately, and reduce fraud and default rates.”

While open banking can aid an issuer’s defense against the risks of fraud, it can also help them design valuable card benefits that bolster their efforts to attract and retain cardholders.

Among people who own credit cards, 80% have at least one card that offers them rewards, according to a study from the American Bankers Association. And more than 90% of cardholders say they value the rewards programs that come with their cards.

Open banking may arm credit card issuers with the tools they need to make rewards offerings more personalized to cardholders.

“With access to broader financial data, issuers can tailor products to individual needs, improving spend and utilization, as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty,” Deakin told us. “Hyper-personalization is the future, and open banking helps lenders get better at one-to-one banking/service customization.”

Danny Morrow, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of Extend, told us that open banking gives credit card issuers an opportunity to remain competitive “by enabling innovation and customer choice. Customers should have the freedom to access and use their financial data as they see fit.”

Issuers may face more costs related to data security and managing compliance programs as a result of open banking.

Open banking may also pose risks to credit card issuers. Deakin pointed out that fintechs and neobanks may be in a better spot than traditional issuers to offer consumers products that are more agile and data-driven. 

Issuers may face new expenses under open banking, particularly around data protection and regulatory compliance.

“With more data sharing comes greater risk of breaches and regulatory scrutiny,” Deakin said. “Issuers must invest heavily in cybersecurity and compliance infrastructure.”

These threats and costs may have been on the mind of JPMorgan Chase leaders when they decided to impose fees on fintechs to access the company’s data on customers.

“Third parties want full access to banks’ customer data so they can exploit it for their own purposes and profits,” JPMorgan Chase’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, has said in regard to the issue.

Issuers will need to decide which course of action best suits their plans when considering whether they want to charge third parties fees for data access. While open banking may open new frontiers of finance for consumers, it gives issuers plenty to think about as they begin strategic planning processes for 2026 initiatives.