JPMorgan’s Chase Bank Launches This Week

JPMorgan’s new UK digital bank Chase will launch this week, hoping to make a dent in the market dominated by the traditional high street banks and established digital challengers.

The bank, which was formally unveiled earlier this year, will represent the first international expansion of the massive JPMorgan consumer bank in its 222-year existence.

Crowded Market?

JP Morgan’s move into digital banking in the UK is seen as a massive step for international finance companies, as the UK market is already extremely competitive.

Alongside the major British lenders such as the Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, HSBC and Barclays, there have been some huge strides in taking market share from younger challenger brands such as Monzo, Revolut and Starling.

JPMorgan will also be taking on its long-time US banking rival Goldman Sachs, which launched its own UK digital bank Marcus in the UK back in 2018, although that brand has slightly struggled for traction in comparison to other names in the market.

Chase, the name of the digital bank that JPMorgan is launching, will begin with current accounts and a rewards program. The plan is to expand the offering in future to a more diverse portfolio of products, including personal loans, investments and potentially mortgages.

It is expected that JPMorgan’s arrival will place more pressure on the high street banks, as they are the ones that are finding it hardest to maintain momentum in the increasingly digital space. NatWest’s own attempt at digital bank, Bo, launched in November 2019 and closed just six months later.

However, some of the challenger banks based in the UK have considered making the move stateside too, with Revolut exploring options for a California-based bank as it strengthens its position as one of the UK’s wealthiest challengers.

The UK introduction of Chase is being described as a “very big strategic commitment” by the CEO of the bank’s international consume division Sanoke Viswanathan.

We will spend hundreds of millions before we get to break-even and get to a place where this is a sustainable business, and we’re not in a rush.

Continued Expansion Of JPMorgan

The move into the UK is part of a wider expansion plan by JPMorgan, which has also been looking into ways to combat some of the challenges raised by other fintech companies such as PayPal and Square.

The US giant has been making a number of acquisitions that will be tied into the Chase bank, helping to strengthen the digital offering overall.

Back in June, the bank announced that it had acquired the online wealth manager Nutmeg for an undisclosed sum, which would support future growth in the pensions and ISAs market.

Later that month, JPMorgan also announced that it had bought OpenInvest, a start-up based in San Francisco that will allow the bank to develop its sustainable investment options. And then earlier in September, the bank said that it has plans to buy a majority stake in Volkswagen’s online payments unit too.