MORE THAN A dozen progressive organizations are pressuring the Biden administration to enact a rule that would force banks to give customers access to their own financial data. The rule would make it easier for consumers to switch to smaller, independent banks — posing a threat to America’s most powerful banking institutions and potentially refiguring the United States’ financial landscape.

Eighteen consumer advocacy groups and progressive think tanks, including the American Economic Liberties Project and Public Citizen, signed onto a May 27 letter urging the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau to implement the new regulation. Known as Section 1033 in reference to a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the reform seeks not only to ban banks from hoarding customers’ data, but also to introduce competition in a sector that is largely controlled by Wall Street interests. The progressive groups argue that this could bring down costs and improve services for consumers.

“A strong implementation of Section 1033 will be critical to beating back anti-competitive, data-hoarding behavior and putting safeguards in place to protect consumers’ access and control over their data in their financial lives,” reads the letter addressed to Dave Uejio, the acting director of the CFPB. “The massive amount of consumer data that large financial institutions have accumulated gives them a significant built-in advantage over competitors.”