JPMorgan Opens Washington DC Branch, Unveils Other Plans

In sync with its plan to expand into new markets, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) announced that it has opened its first retail branch in Greater Washington, DC. Also, the bank made several declarations related to investments in the region with an aim to further improve regional economy.

By this year end, five more branches will come up in Greater Washington and the company plans to hire nearly 80 new employees. Each new branch in the region will employ seven to nine employees, which will include bankers, tellers and branch managers.

In April, JPMorgan had announced its plan to open 70 new branches in the region and hire 700 new employees. Almost 20% of new branches in Greater Washington region will be built in low and moderate income communities. Additionally, JPMorgan made a commitment of $4 billion related to regional home and small business lending, and $500 million to affordable rental housing. These efforts are expected to further drive regional economic growth.

Peter Scher, JPMorgan’s Chairman for the Mid-Atlantic Region and Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, said, “Greater Washington is a great place to live and do business. We’re incredibly excited to open our first branch in the region. As the region continues its extraordinary growth, we want to play our part in creating economic opportunity for more people here.”

Road Ahead

JPMorgan has been doing business in Greater Washington region for almost 20 years, serving more than 2 million consumers and above 70,000 business clients. The bank faces tough competition from Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) , Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) , among others.

At the time when demand for digital offerings is on the rise, opening of brick and mortar retail branches is a bit surprising. JPMorgan had unveiled its expansion plan earlier this year that included opening of 400 branches in new markets by 2023. Notably, as of Sep 30, 2018, the bank had nearly 5,100 branches.

Over the past two months, JPMorgan has forayed into retail banking in Philadelphia with plans to open 50 branches in the state, additional 60 branches in Florida and Georgia, and at least 60 branches in New England region.

Shares of JPMorgan have rallied 11.6% over the past year compared with the industry’s rise of just 0.8%.



Currently, JPMorgan carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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