JPMorgan will join the hunt for UK online banking in a few months

LONDON (Reuters) – JPMorgan will launch a digital consumer bank in Britain under its Chase brand within months, marking its first foray into an already competitive UK market.

The new company has already recruited 400 people and will offer a range of products including current accounts, JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, said on Wednesday.

At a time of growth in online finance, JPMorgan’s business is further intensifying competition in Britain’s digital banking sector, where it will compete with Goldman Sachs’ consumer brand Marcus, which launched in Britain in 2018.

The new digital bank will also compete with start-ups such as Starling and Monzo, which have made progress in capturing market share from the four biggest UK banks.

Digital financial services globally have seen renewed activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more home consumers embracing online banking and investing.

This isn’t JPMorgan’s first attempt at a digital-only bank.

It launched a smartphone bank called Finn in its home market in 2017, but shut it down a year after its nationwide debut.

Other big banks have also had mixed results when trying to fend off the competition with new digital offshoots. In May, NatWest announced that it was abandoning its Bó digital bank, after a mixed reception from consumers.

Sanoke Viswanathan, former chief administrative officer of JPMorgan’s corporate and investment banking, has been appointed chief executive of the new digital bank, which will be headquartered in London’s Canary Wharf financial district.

Its customers will be served from a new call center in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, which has long been home to a vibrant financial services sector.

Reports of a likely tilt by JPMorgan in the UK consumer market have been circulating for about a year, but the bank has released few details publicly.

“The UK has a vibrant and highly competitive consumer banking market, which is why we’ve designed the bank from the ground up to specifically meet the needs of customers here,” said Gordon Smith, CEO of Consumer Banking. and communities of JPMorgan, in a press release. .