JPMorgan Chase Plans Rollout Of UK Digital Retail Bank

JPMorgan Chase plans to roll out a digital retail bank in the United Kingdom, which will have offerings and functionalities designed to meet the requirements of British customers through a mobile app, according to a Wednesday (Jan. 27) announcement.

Sanoke Viswanathan, who served as the chief administrative officer and head of strategy at J.P. Morgan’s Corporate & Investment Bank, has been named chief executive of the operation, according to the announcement.

The digital bank is based at Canary Wharf, London, while its clients will be served by an Edinburgh contact center. As it stands, the business has made 400 employment positions in the United Kingdom and more hires are intended as it expands.

A U.K.-based JPMorgan Chase subsidiary is licensed to run the business. The subsidiary’s activities are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in addition to the Prudential Regulation Authority.

“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,” Gordon Smith, CEO of consumer and community banking and co-president of JPMorgan Chase, said in the announcement.

Smith said the country has a “vibrant and highly competitive” consumer banking arena, and, for that reason, the company created the bank from the ground up to meet the requirements of clients there.

Chase is among the biggest consumer banks in the United States, serving almost 50 percent of the nation’s households with the inclusion of 55 million digitally active customers.

The news comes after JPMorgan Chase registered Q4 results on Friday (Jan. 15) that showed net income was $3.79 per share, far ahead of the $2.62 a share that had been forecast by analysts. Looking ahead, the firm will expand its technology investments with a focus on advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).