In a move that’s sending shockwaves through the global tech and finance sectors, Germany has proposed that the European Union’s forthcoming Financial Data Access (FiDA) regulation should exclude major U.S. technology companies—Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta—from accessing the financial data-sharing system. The proposal, which surfaced on September 23, 2025, is poised to reshape the digital finance landscape and test the transatlantic relationship between Europe and the United States.
FiDA, the brainchild of years of EU policy work, is set to extend the bloc’s Open Banking framework. Under FiDA, banks and other financial institutions would be required to share customer data with third-party businesses—if, and only if, the customer gives explicit consent. The idea is to hand consumers greater control and ownership over their financial data, while at the same time spurring innovation by letting developers create new, more personalized financial products and services. It’s a vision that’s been widely hailed as a step toward modernizing Europe’s financial sector.
But as the regulation nears its final negotiation stage, Germany’s push to block U.S. tech titans has taken center stage. According to The Financial Times, Germany circulated a document among EU member states arguing that the exclusion is necessary “to promote the development of an EU digital financial ecosystem, guarantee a level playing field and protect the digital sovereignty of consumers.” The document’s language is clear: the continent’s digital future, it suggests, must be built by and for Europeans.
Support for the German stance is strong among European banks and policymakers. Banks, in particular, are wary that granting Big Tech access to FiDA would allow global platforms to leverage the vast troves of financial data to build competing products—potentially eroding the traditional relationship between banks and their customers. As Computer Weekly reported, the European Parliament and Commission have echoed these concerns, with one EU diplomat bluntly stating, “Big Tech players are actually losing the lobbying fight.” The Commission itself has described FiDA as a framework that “places consumers’ interests, competition, security and trust at their centre.”
Chris Skinner, CEO of The Finanser and a well-known fintech expert, told Computer Weekly that the EU’s regulators are motivated by a desire to avoid U.S. control over EU citizens’ financial data. “If they can access the financial data of EU citizens, then it could lead to US control over them. Hence, they want to ensure our data is protected,” Skinner said.
This regulatory tug-of-war is unfolding against a backdrop of increasing political and technological rivalry. European fintech entrepreneur Matthias Kröner pointed out that, while he once might have supported allowing Big Tech access to such data, “probably not in today’s political environment.” Kröner noted the current “strong regulatory competition: while the US is unleashing big tech, the European commission needs to protect our standards.” He added, “European regulation might not be everybody’s darling, but first of all it is made to protect the people, it’s not made because the EU is an autocratic state. And Europe is under increasing pressure for exactly that.”
For the banks, the stakes are high. If FiDA were to grant access to U.S. tech firms, banks fear they could be sidelined as companies like Google, Apple, or Meta roll out slick new financial products and services directly to consumers, leveraging the very data banks have long guarded. As TechRadar Pro noted, banks across Europe have argued that Big Tech access could weaken the traditional bank-customer relationship, undermining their role as trusted custodians of financial data.
Yet not everyone is cheering for exclusion. Industry representatives for the tech sector warn that barring U.S. firms could ultimately harm European consumers. Daniel Friedlaender, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association Europe, told The Financial Times, “FiDA’s original vision was to give people control over their own data and access to better, more innovative financial services. By bowing to incumbent banks, the EU is going to limit consumer choice and entrench legacy players who already hold ‘gatekeeper’ power over customer data.”
The lobbying groups representing these tech giants have also fired back at the proposal, arguing that “incumbent banks” are the true gatekeepers of financial information. They warn that the proposed restrictions could stir up trade tensions with the United States—tensions that are already simmering. Former President Donald Trump, never one to shy away from a fight over U.S. interests, recently weighed in on Truth Social: “As the President of the United States, I will stand up to Countries that attack our incredible American Tech Companies. Digital Taxes, Digital Services Legislation and Digital Markets Regulations are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology.” Trump has even threatened tariffs on countries he believes are discriminating against U.S. companies, raising the specter of another round of transatlantic economic friction.
For now, the momentum appears to be with those advocating exclusion. According to diplomats cited by The Financial Times, “Big Tech groups [face] almost certain defeat” in their bid to secure access to FiDA. The final negotiations are set to conclude later in 2025, and the expectation is that the current draft—excluding Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta—will be approved.
At its core, the FiDA debate is about more than just who gets to see your bank statements. It’s a battle over digital sovereignty, consumer rights, and the future of financial innovation in an era dominated by a handful of global technology giants. The EU Commission has been clear that FiDA is designed to bring the financial sector “into the digital age,” with a framework for “secure and open access to customer data across a wider range of financial services.” The regulation, the Commission says, is about ensuring the sector is “fit for purpose and adaptive to the digital transformation, and the risks and opportunities it presents – in particular for consumers.”
Still, the question lingers: will Europe’s bid to build a homegrown digital finance sector deliver the innovation and consumer empowerment that FiDA promises, or will it simply entrench the power of established banks at the expense of consumer choice? As talks enter their final stretch, all eyes are on Brussels—and on the global tech titans waiting anxiously at the gates.
With the outcome of FiDA set to shape the future of digital finance in Europe and beyond, the coming weeks will be crucial. The world is watching to see whether Europe stands firm in its quest for digital sovereignty or finds a way to balance innovation, competition, and consumer protection in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
