JPMorgan Chase & Co. approached the U.S. Postal Service earlier this year about a deal to place ATMs in some of its locations.

The exploratory conversations are still preliminary and began before the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation, according to JPMorgan spokeswoman Trish Wexler.

“There is no agreement in place and no imminent plans to move forward,” she said.

The talks were initiated by the bank’s real estate team as part of a broader effort to find space for automated teller machines in locations across the country, according to a person briefed on the plans. JPMorgan for the past two years has been pursuing the biggest expansion of its consumer bank in a decade, opening hundreds of branches in new states to attract customers and boost lending.

As part of the discussions with the Postal Service, the New York-based bank has inquired about leasing “a small number of spaces to place ATMs to better serve some historically underserved communities,” Wexler said.

The talks between JPMorgan and the Postal Service were first reported earlier Wednesday by Capitol Forum.

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The Postal Service said in a statement that its core function is to deliver mail, not offer banking services.

“To the extent our research concludes that we can legally provide additional services at a profit and without distracting from our core business, we would consider these,” it said. “However, public policy and regulatory discussions must be addressed before the Postal Service invests in an area outside our core function.”

—Michelle F. Davis (Bloomberg)