The nation’s top consumer financial regulator wants to put a stop to that. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed a rule Thursday that would ban arbitration clauses, which would affect the entire financial industry and the hundreds of millions of bank accounts, credit cards and other financial services Americans use.

The proposal does have a significant limitation. The ban would apply only when consumers want to create or join a class-action lawsuit. Financial companies will still be able to force individuals to settle disputes through arbitration; however, cases where a lone customer wants to sue his or her bank are far less common.

Consumer advocates say these arbitrators are often biased and routinely rule against consumers. If a customer loses an arbitration ruling, it often cannot be appealed.

The financial industry has argued that arbitration is a more efficient way for customers to resolve disputes with banks.

A study commissioned by the CFPB in March 2015 showed that is very likely the case. It showed customers rarely used the courts to sue their bank for a small claim. However, when large numbers of customers were negatively effected by the same issue, the same study showed arbitration clauses hinder the ability of customers to seek relief.

“The proposed rule … is an enormous step forward toward restoring the right to band together with others who have been harmed to redress grievances through the courts,” said Nan Aron, the president of the Alliance for Justice, an organization of roughly 100 politically liberal advocacy and consumer groups.

Opponents and critics of the CFPB’s ban say the proposal will only benefit class-action lawyers and lead to gigantic paydays.

Congress directed the CFPB to study the issue of mandatory arbitration under the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law and decide whether arbitration needed to be regulated. Along with commissioning the study, Dodd-Frank banned the use of arbitration clauses for mortgages.

All of the major financial industry lobby groups announced their opposition to the proposal Thursday.

“Arbitration has long provided a faster, better, and more cost-effective means of addressing consumer disputes than litigation or class action lawsuits,” said Richard Hunt, the president of the Consumer Banker Association, whose membership is mostly large regional and national retail banks.