JPMorgan Chase is planning to venture into the British consumer finance landscape in the coming months, offering a host of savings and loan products, Sky News citing unidentified sources, reported on Monday.
The sixth biggest bank in the world, with more than $2.6 trillion in assets, has moved a notch higher to unveiling a broad array of banking services in the United Kingdom.
JPMorgan's upcoming venture would be similar to what Goldman Sachs has undertaken with its electronic banking arm, Marcus - a lender that has earned billions of pounds in deposits.
The Wall Street giant has engaged in high-level talks with state regulators with regards complying with the requirements to operate in the UK personal banking, Sky disclosed.
Clive Adamson, who is the Financial Conduct Authority's former chief for supervision who also serves as a non-executive director at JPMorgan Securities Plc will oversee the program, the Financial Times reported.
The New York-headquartered JPMorgan Chase will hold an investor event next week and will lay out the lender's growth and development plans for the coming months. Currently, it is not clear if JPMorgan's London-based consumer banking project will be tackled during an upcoming investor gathering.
JPMorgan may also consider the possibility of venturing into UK's mortgage sector, however, the plan has not yet been validated. According to sources, JPMorgan's latest initiative will be helmed by a senior executive that has already worked with the bank.
JPMorgan would be entering a consumer-banking sector that is in a state of uncertainty. Fintech companies like Starling Bank Ltd. and Monzo Bank Ltd. have enticed millions of clients searching for ways to conventional institutions like Barclays Plc and HSBC Holdings Plc.
JPMorgan has more than 50 million digital banking customers in the United States and disclosed that users can open a new online account in just a matter of minutes.
UK Aid and JPMorgan confirmed in January that they would invest around $15 million into the business ventures of Catalyst Fund, a project accelerator based in Boston which funds fintech companies in order to support financial inclusion programs in Mexico, India, and South Africa.
Increasing rivalry in the notoriously hostile British banking landscape can very difficult for some financial players. Last week, N26 GmbH, a German online lender backed by investor Peter Thiel, said it was leaving Britain after four years. The bank blamed the Brexit mess for its withdrawal. Another German digital finance firm, Fidor Bank, also left the UK in 2019.
