JPMorgan Chase Eyes U.K. for Digital Bank

January 27, 2021

JPMorgan Chase will offer U.K. consumers a completely new banking choice when it launches a digital retail bank in the coming months. Using the Chase brand, the bank will provide products and features tailored to meet the needs of customers in the U.K., delivered via an innovative mobile app.

“We are bringing Chase to the U.K. because we want to provide customers with a new banking choice – one that will enable them to benefit from a simple and exceptional banking experience, built on the significant capabilities of JPMorgan Chase,” said Gordon Smith, CEO of Consumer & Community Banking and co-President of JPMorgan Chase. “The U.K. has a vibrant and highly competitive consumer banking marketplace, which is why we’ve designed the bank from scratch to specifically meet the needs of customers here.”

Sanoke Viswanathan has been appointed CEO of the digital bank having previously been Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Strategy at J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank.

The digital bank is headquartered at Canary Wharf, London, and its customers will be served by a purpose-built customer contact centre in Edinburgh. The business has already created 400 jobs in the U.K., and has more hires planned as it grows. A U.K. based subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase is licensed to operate the business. Its activities are regulated by both the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Chase has a unique opportunity to make a difference for U.K. consumers, by combining the reassurance of an established and trusted bank with a seamless customer experience. The bank intends to offer a range of products starting with a new take on current accounts. Chase’s U.K.-based customer contact centre will be central to the proposition, providing fast to access, personalised service around the clock. The offering is currently being piloted in an internal testing phase, prior to public release.

“Our decision to launch a digital retail bank in the U.K. is a milestone, introducing British consumers to our retail products for the first time,” said Daniel Pinto, JPMorgan Chase’s London-based co-President. “This new endeavour underscores our commitment to a country where we have deep roots, thousands of employees and offices established for over 160 years.”

When considering entry into the U.K., the firm conducted extensive research to identify where it could make an impact for consumers and meet their needs. Even as digital banking has become mainstream, the bank found that the stability and trustworthiness of the banking provider remains a key consideration for consumers.

In the United States, Chase is one of the largest consumer banks serving nearly half of the country’s households, including 55 million digitally active customers. It offers a broad range of consumer banking products and holds several number-one positions including in deposit taking, digital banking and credit card issuance.