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Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is opening its first retail branches in the Philadelphia area as part of a broader plan to bolster the consumer bank by expanding into more than a dozen new markets over five years.
The largest US bank by assets is planning to open about 50 branches and hire 300 people in Philadelphia, Delaware and Southern New Jersey, according to a statement. The firm plans to increase mortgage and small-businesses lending by $3 billion in the area through 2023. This marks the bank’s first retail presence in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
JPMorgan unveiled a plan in January to earmark $20 billion over five years to open 400 branches in 15 to 20 new US markets, boost employee wages, lend more and promote economic growth after its corporate tax rate was slashed. The bank said in April it would open as many as 70 branches in the Washington, DC, area as part of the expansion. The Philadelphia push brings the new-branch tally to 120.
Many competitors are shutting outlets as people handle more transactions digitally. The number of branches in the US declined to the lowest level in about a decade last year, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. At year-end, JPMorgan had about 5,100 branches in 23 states.
In Philadelphia, JPMorgan will be trying to muscle into an already crowded market. Wells Fargo & Co., PNC Financial Services Group Inc., TD Bank each have at least 140 branches in the metropolitan area.