Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, reports that fintech middlemen are overwhelming the bank’s systems with unnecessary data requests. Only 13% of 1.89 billion data requests in June were initiated by customers. JPMorgan plans to charge middlemen new fees for access, sparking potential upheaval in the fintech ecosystem. The surge in API calls has doubled in the past two years, leading to increased fraud claims linked to payments made through aggregators.

Plaid, a major player in the data requests, disputes JPMorgan’s claims and states that customers grant permission for data access. Plaid believes the rise in data access is due to consumer demand for smarter financial tools. The proposed fees could result in Plaid paying $300 million annually. JPMorgan is in negotiations with data aggregators to find a mutually beneficial solution.

The fate of the Biden-era “open banking” rule, which mandated free data sharing, hangs in the balance amid the disputes between JPMorgan and middlemen. Both sides are working towards a new agreement that addresses the rising costs associated with increased data requests. JPMorgan has had productive conversations with aggregators who acknowledge the need to adjust call volume.

Read more at CNBC: JPMorgan says fintech middlemen like Plaid are ‘massively taxing’ its systems