It’s no secret that we leave in technological age where everything and anything you do online is basically public property. Large tech companies know who you’re talking to, what you’re shopping for and where you work. However, one thing they don’t have complete control over is your banking information, but that could all change in the near future. Quietly, Facebook, Amazon and Google have been lobbying major banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the three major tech companies are lobbying to obtain banking information from the major financial institutions in order to better improve their own apps.
Daniel Ives of GBH Research commented on the unfolding situation by saying, “It’s important to get more entrenched into daily lives of consumers. Ultimately, it’s about them tapping into the massive amount of users on their platforms.” While it makes complete business sense for the three major tech companies to want this information, this may be a major point of concern for users of these platforms. In recent months, Facebook has had its own scandal involving data privacy that lead to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, having to apologize in front of Congress.
As of now, there is no significant movement on these talks, but it is definitely something we will all keep an eye out for.
