New bank rules should make it easier to switch

I haven't seen anything about court battles over this. Maybe the big banks are more or less OK with it.

It’s about to get harder for banks to hold onto unsatisfied customers — and their money.

It has long been a challenge for people to ditch the banks where they keep their checking accounts. Blame tricky data transfer processes, lengthy and time-consuming requests, and other hurdles. But the first so-called open banking rules in the U.S. aims to change that.

New rules finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Tuesday will require banks to simplify how customers transfer their data from one bank to another without losing their transaction and bill history.

The aim of the regulations, formally known as 1033, is to empower consumers by giving them unprecedented control over their financial data, including who to share it with and when. As a result, customers will be able to direct their bank to move their account to a competing one with ease and use third-party applications with just the click of a button — all without paying a fee.

“Imagine being able to switch banks as easily as switching streaming services,” said James McCarthy, a founding member of the CFPB who is now chairman of financial services solutions firm McCarthy Hatch. “That’s what it’s really going to be like.” - Quartz