As the largest bank in the U.S., with more than $3.2 trillion in assets, JPMorgan Chase has resources like no other financial institution. 

For Allison Beer, head of digital at Chase, 2020 has been about evolving the bank’s features to meet the rapidly changing needs of customers. “There really isn’t a stone that went unturned to enhancing customer experiences this year,” Beer said. She has been with the bank for four years, and previously spent more than seven years with American Express.

Beer sat down with Bank Innovation to discuss Chase’s 2020 efforts and her predictions for 2021. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Bank Innovation: What are your predictions for 2021?

Allison Beer: Customers want to have personalized insights about their spending, savings and credit scores. They want to be able to use that information in a tailored way. Second is automation. It’s all about improving customer experiences and making it easier for customers as they engage with their bank. We certainly want to avoid the friction of requiring customers to complete anything, whether that’s account opening, setting up a recurring payment or making a payment. 

Last but not least is real-time payments; 2021 is the year real-time payments is going to be even more part of the conversation. The ability for customers to pay digitally and in real time has been proven to be safe, and more and more customers are adopting it. 

BI: Chase has been trying to eliminate screen scraping through credential-based data sharing. Why is it important to facilitate this open ecosystem for clients?

AB: Customers want to have access to their information. We want to make sure that we’re protecting their information, and they have clear visibility where their information is going. We will, of course, allow fintechs and others to connect to us, but they would have to adhere to the privacy protocols. We have a full product team that’s just responsible for making sure that’s a seamless experience. We are also allowing customers to aggregate their information with us. Just as I had mentioned that we allow customers to offer information to third parties, we are doing that for our customers, which you’ll see us working on. There’s always a roadmap for all of these things. [Customers] want it to be easy, and I don’t think anybody has got that exactly right yet. 

BI: What were some of the biggest storylines from Chase this year?

AB: The book of work stayed on track. We still had meaningful customer products launched, whether it’s Chase First Banking, which is a full-service account for kids, or Chase Business Complete, an all-in-one solution for businesses. We launched our new payment acceptance product called QuickAccept. Goals launched, as did the ability to budget through the Chase mobile app. Customers can track payments in a new way, including the new fraud hub that launched for small businesses that allowed them to monitor all their transactions. 

BI: With such a massive infrastructure at Chase, how does the bank approach build/partner/buy? 

AB: There is no one approach. We look at every problem and evaluate what is the best way to solve it. In some cases, it’s bringing new capabilities into the firm. I’m super proud of our tech team. We’re always augmenting the teams to make sure we have the best-in-class talent on the team, but if there’s someone else out there that’s going to speed our ability to get to market, or has an innovative approach, then we’ll collaborate.