JP Morgan prepares to launch UK digital bank next year
JP Morgan Chase is reportedly preparing to launch an online bank in the UK early next year.
The investment bank is finalising plans to open its UK challenger bank in the first quarter of 2021, according to Sky News.
It has signed up suppliers to provide cloud and digital banking infrastructure, including Amazon Web Services and 10x Future Technologies.
JP Morgan declined to comment. The bank has not yet officially confirmed the existence of the UK personal banking project.
A move into digital banking would allow the US giant to capture some of the millions of customers that have transferred from high street branches to online services during the coronavirus pandemic.
The bank, which will launch under the Chase brand, is expected to be chaired by former Financial Conduct Authority executive Clive Adamson.
Adamson left the FCA in 2015, and has since held various non-executive roles at JP Morgan, including chair of its international business and non-executive director of JP Morgan Securities.
In 2018 JP Morgan launched digital bank Finn in an attempt to enter the consumer banking market, however it was shuttered a year later after struggling to recruit customers.
Its move to launch a digital bank in the UK follows rival Goldman Sachs’ expansion into the UK banking sector with the rollout of its Marcus brand in 2018.
Marcus brought in 250,000 British customers in its first year alone and currently holds more than £13bn in UK deposits.