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The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has granted recognition to the Financial Data Exchange, Inc. (FDX) as an official standards-setting body under its Personal Financial Data Rights rule. 

This is the first such recognition order issued under the rule, which was introduced in October 2024.

FDX, a leading standard-setting organisation operating across the US and Canada, has more than 200 members, including both commercial and non-commercial entities such as data providers, aggregators, service providers, trade bodies and consumer groups.

Founded in 2018, the organisation has established itself as the leading technical standards organisation in North America for the exchange of permissioned financial data. 

Its membership covers a broad span of the US payments ecosystem, and includes Amazon Web Services, Mastercard, Visa and Bank of America.

������covered by ���ĺ�������, the CFPB first received FDX's application for recognition in September 2024, followed by a public comment period later that month. 

�ճ���� that the CFPB has made is now subject to several conditions, including a ban on "pay-to-play" practices, which is intended to ensure that FDX’s standards are developed impartially, without financial incentives for specific market players. 

In addition, FDX is required to report on market adoption of its standards and maintain a publicly available resource for companies to disclose their adherence to them.

The approval also mandates that FDX makes its consensus standards freely available to the public, ensuring transparency and equal access for both members and non-members.

The standards development process must also be open, with clear documentation of how they are issued.

FDX’s recognition as a standards-setting body has been granted for a five-year term, and the CFPB has said it is continuing to review other applications for similar recognition.

The CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights rule, finalised in October last year, mandates that financial institutions, credit card issuers and other financial service providers must unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request, at no charge, similar to the open banking regimes existent in other countries like the UK. 

Although it has been welcomed by many stakeholders in the US payments ecosystem and further afield, with one calling it “a significant evolution”, it has also sparked criticism, with other insiders branding the requirements a “missed opportunity”.

Updated policy statements 

Separate from FDX’s approval, the CFPB has also issued updated procedures for how companies can request special regulatory treatment, such as a no-action letter (NAL), which the CFPB says will “increase transparency and reduce favoritism for individual companies”.

Seemingly buried within the FDX press release, this includes a new policy  on the Compliance Assistance Sandbox (CAS) programme, which will now operate under stricter conditions to ensure innovations address genuine consumer needs, maintain fair competition and uphold transparency and ethical standards.

Changes announced include requiring applications to demonstrate significant consumer benefits and avoiding government resources being used for minor product adjustments. 

For example, approvals will not be granted to single firms to prevent unfair market advantages and cannot be advertised as endorsements.

Transparency is ensured through public posting of applications for comment, and applications from firms with recent legal violations or represented by former CFPB attorneys will be rejected.

The updated policy reflects prior misuse of the CAS programme, where some firms gained competitive advantages or misrepresented CFPB approvals. 

For example,  ���Ի��� faced scrutiny for practices perceived as inconsistent with equal opportunity or ethics. 

To avoid repeats of this, approvals will now require adherence to strict conditions, automatic denial for unauthorised product changes and a commitment to transparency and accountability. 

Also announced as part of the FDX release is an update on NALs. 

The updated policy introduces stringent "Conditions to Promote Innovation, Competition, Ethics, and Transparency" to address flaws in previous NAL programmes, and prioritises consumer-focused innovation, placing more emphasis on unmet needs rather than minor adjustments or exploitative designs. 

The CFPB has said that competitive fairness is a cornerstone of the policy: “In seeking to promote innovation, the NAL program must not tilt the competitive playing field by picking winners and losers in markets, or appearing to do so.” 

The document also states that use of NALs in advertising is prohibited to avoid creating misleading impressions of endorsement.

As with the sandbox, transparency and ethics are prioritised, with public posting of applications for comment and the disqualification of firms with recent violations of consumer financial laws. 

Meanwhile, substantial product changes necessitate re-application for amended NALs, which the CFPB says replaces previous frameworks that lacked sufficient transparency or consumer benefits.