JPMorgan Eyes Commercial Banking Expansion in Germany

America’s largest bank reportedly wants to grow its presence in Europe’s largest economy.

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is plotting a major expansion that involves developing a digitally-centered consumer bank outside the U.S., the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Tuesday (Jan. 14).

That means launching a Chase bank in Germany, Europe’s largest economy and a country known for its unprofitable banking sector, the report said. Dimon’s goal is to move into all the major economies in Europe, garnering enough customers to create a new source of profit.

Sources told the WSJ that J.P. Morgan plans to launch Chase in Germany in the latter part of this year or in early 2026. The bank is already one of the biggest banks — in terms of assets — in Germany, where it lends to major companies, trades securities and processes payments.

The report notes that the bank is gambling on the notion that its brand and app will attract customers from traditional lenders and FinTech upstarts.

Sources familiar with the project say the effort to develop a digital bank from scratch has been a longer, more complicated effort than first thought. Chase had targeted 2022 to go live in Germany but pushed the launch back after a string of delays, they said.

The news follows reports from last year that J.P. Morgan was plotting expansions in Europe’s Scandinavian countries, as well as parts of Africa. In the U.S., the bank aims to open 500 new branches by 2027, while refurbishing another 1,700 locations.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS examined J.P. Morgan’s digital efforts ahead of this week’s earnings reports from the country’s biggest banks.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence has noted that the shift toward digital banking — a trend fueled by the COVID pandemic — has far outlasted that period.

In reports such as “How the World Does Digital,” close to half of consumers around the world reported engaging with digital banking channels at least once per week, which translates to around 22 days of “activity days” on a monthly basis.

“J.P. Morgan’s latest supplementals, per its third-quarter report this past fall, noted that active mobile customers were up 7% year-over-year to 57 million,” PYMNTS wrote, also noting the bank’s plans to open 500 new locations.

“The convergence between digital enablement via in-branch settings will be a feature, as financial institutions have been revisiting the role of technology in re-fashioning their physical footprints,” the report added.