JPMorgan Chase increased technology spend during the fourth quarter of 2023 as all lines of business across the bank invested in new products, features, customer platforms and overall modernization.  

Total noninterest expense increased 29% year over year to $24.5 billion, according to JPMorgan’s Q4 2023 earnings supplement. Technology, communications and equipment expenses accounted for $2.4 billion of the total noninterest expense, up 7% YoY. 

Technology updates are “happening throughout the company, both at the app level and otherwise,” Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said during the bank’s earnings call today.

BIGGER PICTURE: As part of the $3.9 trillion bank’s technology efforts, it has implemented 300 uses for AI, according to a Nov. 15 AI Index ranking from AI intelligence company Evident. 

When it comes to AI, “the current focus is on making sure we have a contained, well-chosen list of high-impact use cases and that we are throwing resources at those in the right way,” Barnum said during the call.  

“We’re JPMorgan Chase. We’re not going to be chasing shiny objects here in AI. We want to do this in an extremely disciplined way,” he said. 

BY THE NUMBERS: For Q4, JPMorgan Chase reported: 

• Active mobile customers reached 53.9 million, up 8% YoY; 
• Active digital users increased 6% YoY to 67 million; 
• Net income fell 15% YoY to $9.3 billion; and 
• Total revenue increased 12% YoY to $39.9 billion, First Republic Bank contributed $1.9 billion to that. 

NOTEWORTHY: JPMorgan continued to increase headcount, which reached 309,926 in Q4, up 6% YoY, according to the earnings supplement.  

The bank will continue hiring to fill roles for client advisers as well as domestic and international bankers, Barnum said during the call. 

While JPMorgan added to its team, banks including Citi and Wells Fargo reduced headcount YoY during the quarter. 

FLASHBACK: JPMorgan acquired First Republic Bank on May 1 after regulators stepped in to facilitate the sale.  

During 2023, JPMorgan worked on integration plans for First Republic, Barnum said during the second-quarter earnings call in July.  

Those efforts continued in Q4; the bank has now integrated home lending, mortgage origination and servicing, Marianne Lake, the co-chief executive of JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking, said during the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference in December. 

FORWARD LOOK: JPMorgan expects expenses to total $90 billion in 2024, according to the earnings presentation. Contributors to spending are expected to include: 

• Business growth-driven hiring efforts; 
• Increase in technology spend; and 
• Annualizations of First Republic Bank.  

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