JPMorgan Banks on Savings to Woo German Retail Customers

J.P. Morgan Chase is reportedly weeks away from launching its long-awaited Europe-based retail banking effort.

Three years after CEO Jamie Dimon laid out plans to expand J.P. Morgan’s Chase brand in Europe, the U.S.’s biggest bank is readying its retail offering in the German city of Berlin, the Financial Times (FT) reported Wednesday (May 13).

According to the report, the effort has hit a series of challenges, including the need to make sure its offering complied with both European Union standards and issues specific to Germany, such as the deduction of church tax on interest income.

“It was the first time we were making the platform multi-country, multi-currency and multi-language,” Daniel Llano Manibardo, head of the retail banking effort, told the FT.

“These initial investments are always bigger and take a bit longer than investments required to enter subsequent markets from here.”

The report describes the bank’s “entry point” for Chase, an overnight savings account, as “deliberately narrow.” Dutch bank ING, the FT added, used a similar strategy that ignored brick-and-mortar branches while building what became Germany’s third-largest retail lender.

“Savings is often the hook product — once customers join, banks can expand the product offering,” said McKinsey partner Max Flötotto.

J.P. Morgan announced plans to bring the Chase brand to Germany in early 2025, following a launch in the United Kingdom.

“It has always been clear to us that we want to introduce Chase not only in the U.K., but also in Germany and other European countries. We have ambitious plans,” Dimon said in a 2023 interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt.

“In Germany, ‘Chase’ is not yet so well known, but worldwide it is a strong brand. We are also a trustworthy bank with a strong balance sheet — and private customers know that.”

In other J.P. Morgan news, PYMNTS spoke last week with Meagan Sibbald, the lender’s head of product and general manager for real-time payments and pay by bank.

She discussed the importance of confirmation, transparency and safeguards in fostering trust in real-time transactions, leading to a shift from what Sibbald called a “send and hope” model to a “send and know” framework.

“In a send and hope model, I click the button, and I hope that those funds get to where they’re supposed to go when they’re supposed to get there,” she said. “In a send and know model, I know that the funds are going to go where they need to go, and they land in that account.”