JPMorgan’s UK Digital Bank Processed 20 Million Payments in 8 Months

JPMorgan’s consumer bank Chase in Britain, a digital venture, now has over half a million customers, Reuters wrote Monday (May 23).

Chase in Britain launched just eight months ago.

The bank has been using Britain as a test region to debut digital consumer banking services outside of the U.S.

The company has been looking into diversifying its revenue sources, including taking advantage of low-cost online channels to help it compete with local rivals. Meanwhile, in a longer-term goal, Reuters wrote, JPMorgan plans to offer investments through integrating its acquired digital wealth manager Nutmeg.

Chase has meanwhile gotten $10 billion worth of customer deposits in Britain, and has processed 20 million payments. However, this has come at a cost, with the bank likely to lose $450 million on the venture this year, according to a presentation by the bank.

The international consumer business is projected to break even in five to six years, according to the report.

See also: JPMorgan: Tech and Product Investments to Top $2.8B in 2022

PYMNTS wrote that JPMorgan’s investor day saw the bank with an eye toward payments and digital transformation.

The innovations in the digital realm were likely to be significant drivers in the months and years ahead, with a focus on account-related activity more so than what the bank has done before.

The report noted that tech modernization efforts will cost more than $2.8 billion in 2022, an increase from 2019’s $1.8 billion. The efforts will support a $5 trillion payment load and cut down on card and retail card volumes.

In addition the company will debut new omnichannel work with a wealth planning platform.

Much of the bank’s new focus comes from digital banking — over 65% of accounts were opened digitally in 2021. The activity has been increasing, with data showing that mobile active community banking members are up 35% to 46 million, with 70% of the customers having visited physical branches.