The Federal Communications Commission is moving closer to a plan to regulate online and mobile providers like other utilities, which would impede their ability to act as Internet gatekeepers and block or limit access to specific sites.
The effects of the FCC plan — assuming it is approved at a scheduled vote on Thursday — will likely not be immediately felt by banks, and the financial industry has stayed out of the debate. But experts say keeping the Internet open would afford financial institutions future benefits similar to other online players. Net neutrality would prevent a carrier from "throttling" sites of institutions offering similar products, as well as from charging certain banks a higher price for faster online service.
"They would be prohibited from doing anything that could be viewed as discriminatory toward competing applications provided by banks," said Brooks Harlow, a principal at Lukas Nace Gutierrez & Sachs. "To our knowledge, this hasn't been an issue yet. But one of the concerns is that an Internet service provider that has its own payments applications might in some way favor its applications at the expense of competitors."
The FCC's plan has received strong backing from Chairman Tom Wheeler, but some commission members had pushed either to narrow the rule's scope or delay the vote, according to published reports.