Branches Still Matter Even as Mobile Growth Continues, JPMorgan Chase Says
EXCLUSIVE— With 12% growth in mobile active customers year over year, JPMorgan Chase is quite aware of mobile banking’s growing popularity, but that doesn’t mean the bank is ready to kill its branches.
Branches, according to Marianne Lake, chief financial officer, JPMorgan Chase, still matter. This is even as the bank continues to see growth in deposits, as well as the (somewhat expected) growth in mobile users.
The bank grew its MAUs to 29.3 million, according to the third quarter results released today. This is up 3.2% from the 28.4 million MAUs reported last quarter.
“75% of growth in deposits this quarter came from customers visiting our branches, customers visit our branches multiple times in the quarter,” Lake said on the call. “The branch network matters.”
However, Lake continued, that doesn’t mean the bank is “complacent” to changing customer preferences; it has closed more than 125 branches out of its 5,200 network this year, said Lake, and has consolidated others.
Meanwhile, its kept its focus on “omnichannel needs” and on what is expected from its mobile banking app as customer preferences for online and mobile features continue to increase. As the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon (unusually quiet on this call) also noted, “Zelle and P2P is doing quite well” at the bank as well.
Additionally, JPMorgan Chase is keeping a close eye on security concerns after the Equifax hack once again vaulted them into the public eye.
“Not to diminish the effect of one individual breach, but we are under constant attack and while we will also react, this isn’t the first breach, nor will it be the last. We will continue to evolve our security, our underwriting,” Lake said of the bank’s response to the now infamous hack, which comprised financial data for millions of consumers. “We have to be proactive, not reactive.”
Aside from mobile and deposits, the bank also reported a (fairly) solid performance in mortgages, with Lake reporting the bank’s originations were only down 1% in the quarter compared to the overall market 15% decrease.
