JPMorgan Chase (JPM 1.44%), the largest bank in the U.S., plans to take its retail approach to the United Kingdom for the first time, the company announced today.
Citing an anonymous source, CNBC reported that the bank will launch digital checking accounts in the U.K., with no plans to add physical branches. The checking accounts could then be followed by other consumer banking products such as credit cards and home loans.
The news is not exactly a surprise as rumors have been swirling for some time that the bank had interest in the U.K. retail market.
Image source: 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," Gordon Smith, JPMorgan's CEO of consumer and community banking, said in a statement.
The digital bank will be headquartered at Canary Wharf in London, and has created 400 jobs in the U.K., with more hires planned as it grows.
Sanoke Viswanathan, the former chief administrative officer and head of strategy at JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank, will be CEO of the digital bank.
JPMorgan is not the only Wall Street bank to head to the U.K. Goldman Sachs took its digital bank Marcus to the U.K. and saw immediate success.
JPMorgan has successfully grown its retail presence in the U.S., so the fact that it is now looking to grow its retail operations abroad makes sense.
