Chase Bank announced plans Tuesday to expand its presence in the Carolinas, with more branches coming to Charlotte, Raleigh and other cities, as well as upgrades to its Charlotte office and other moves.
Chase, the consumer and commercial banking business of JP Morgan Chase & Co., will add 24,000 square feet and more than 200 employees to its Charlotte office in the Rotunda building by the end of 2024. It will also expand its current 48 branches in North and South Carolina to over 100 by 2025, according to a news release from Chase.
The expansion includes existing markets in Charlotte, Raleigh, Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina, as well as new markets in Greensboro, Columbia and Myrtle Beach.
Timelines for each city’s expansion vary, but by 2024 Chase plans to have two new branches in Charleston, four in Charlotte, six in the Raleigh/Durham area, three in Greensboro and two in Columbia. Chase did not say how many branches would open in Greenville or Myrtle Beach.
Charlotte’s talent and knowledge base is what prompted the bank to expand its SouthPark office.
Each branch typically employs between eight to 10 bankers, Chase Bank told the Observer. At Chase’s recently opened Riverbend Village branch, there is a manager, three relationship bankers, a Private Client banker, a home lending advisor, a financial advisor and a business banker.
Chase employs 1,100 people across North and South Carolina. In 2018, the bank announced a commitment to open 40 branches in the Carolinas. Today, Chase has 48 locations, with eight of those in low- to moderate-income areas.
JPMorgan exec on the expansion and Charlotte
Chase Bank responded to the increased attention to the Southeast’s business market in the last few years by expanding in the region. The area has an attractive market and client base, JPMorgan commercial bank Chief Administrative Officer Dan Wilkening told The Charlotte Observer.
Technology innovation is one of the reasons growth has been abundant in the area, he said, as well as a robust financial services sector.
In 2019, JP Morgan opened its first retail branch in North Carolina. That one was in Chapel Hill.
Existing JPMorgan customers are moving to North and South Carolina from areas where the bank has a larger market, like Chicago, JPMorgan Executive Director of Communications Allison Reed said. Now that the bank has followed its clients south, they are regaining those clients.
When looking at where to expand, Wilkening said his senior advisors had previous experience working in Charlotte. They’ve had success in the queen city so far, hiring over 100 people, with plans to hire 200 more. He said they have had no problems filling those add initial positions.
As for expanding into other areas in the Carolinas, such as the Piedmont Triad, Wilkening said JPMorgan uses established markets to test areas for growth potential.
“We tend to anchor in the larger cities first,” Wilkening said. “But then very quickly we get to know the market and see opportunities to serve clients.”
JPMorgan Chase is biggest bank in the US
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the largest bank in the U.S. It has $3.9 trillion in assets worldwide, serving 80 million customers. It has more than 4,700 branches.
But in Charlotte, it remains a small player when compared to Bank of America, Truist and Wells Fargo. Bank of America and Truist are based in Charlotte, while San Francisco-based Wells Fargo has its largest employee base in Charlotte.
Wilkening said getting clients to switch from a bank they’ve used for generations is the largest hurdle. But JPMorgan will look for opportunities to bring new options to clients, like the use of its international capabilities, as many of its clients’ businesses grow beyond the U.S.
This story was originally published August 1, 2023, 12:00 PM.
