JPMorgan’s UK digital bank embarks on hiring, expands into lending

• JPMorgan Chase is making significant commitments to develop its digital-only UK consumer bank.
• The UK is a good testing ground for JPMorgan to hone its digital prowess in consumer banking.
• Insider Intelligence publishes hundreds of banking industry research reports, charts, and forecasts. Learn more about how to become a customer.

The news: JPMorgan Chase is making significant commitments to its digital-only UK consumer bank which includes a wave of hiring and a transition to lending, according to Reuters, citing an interview with Sanoke Viswanathan, who heads its international consumer business.

More on this: The fledgling digital bank, which operates under the Chase brand, will expand its product line, Viswanathan said, with plans including:

• An integration of Nutmeg, which is a wealth management fintech that the bank Okay to be acquired in June 2021.
• A surge in consumer loans, which will follow integration.

Signs of growth: Chase has recruited 200 employees since its deployment in September 2021, according to Viswanathan, who said the workforce stands at 800. Additionally, the bank plans to add several hundred more employees in 2022, which will boost its workforce. total above 1000.

• The bank revealed, according to Reuters, that Chase has processed several hundred million pounds of purchases since launch, which are linked to more than one million transactions.
• Customer enrollments were higher than the bank expected, Viswanathan said, although he declined to reveal any numbers.
• Chase is not expected to make a profit in the next few years, Viswanathan noted, which is a reiteration of a long-term horizon given at the beginning of this year.

JPMorgan hopes to use its UK model in other European markets, the executive told Reuters, saying: “The idea is to be pan-European.”

The opportunity: The UK is a good testing ground for JPMorgan to hone its digital prowess in

retail banking

and formulate best practices that it can export to the United States and across Europe.

• The open bank is relatively developed in the country and pending regulatory measures will make the experience of sharing data for consumer payments more convenient. These steps may help Chase as open banking eventually expands to the United States.
• The UK also has several large neobanks that Chase can compete against with his digital innovation, most notably Revolut, which strives to be a great application for consumers, and Starling, which has prosperous get people to use their checking accounts

Chase could take market share in the UK by incorporating the features most requested by customers in that country, through our benchmark of emerging features from Neobank UK 2021. Features sought by UK customers include:

• Being able to set alerts for unusual account activity, which 56% rated as “extremely important”.
• Using a banking app to confirm connections on unknown devices, which 43% rated as “extremely important.”

Want to read more stories like this? Here’s how to get there:

1. Join fellow Insider Intelligence customers who receive daily banking forecasts, briefings, charts, and research reports delivered to their inbox. >> Become a customer
2. Explore related topics in more depth. >> Browse our coverage

Current subscribers can access the entire Insider Intelligence content archive here.