Ex Chancellor Javid joins JP Morgan Chase to do battle with ‘cheeky’ charging challenger banks
Published: 2020-10-01 11:48:40

Ex Chancellor Javid joins JP Morgan Chase to do battle with ‘cheeky’ charging challenger banks as it gets set to go digital in the UK consumer economy

JP Morgan Chase is planning to launch its own new digital bank in the UK next year, with a top UK politician named as an adviser on the project. The new bank is destined to shake up some of the smaller UK challenger banks in Britain who have been criticised for being a bit cheeky on charges for certain services to their customers.
The politician, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, has been appointed as a senior member of the bank’s advisory council for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Javid has been Conservative MP for Bromsgrove since 2010. He resigned earlier this year as Chancellor in protest over a growing influence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office in Treasury matters.
Javid will continue as an MP but will be subject to the strict rules on revealing internal government policy, particularly regarding any privileged information he gained while Chancellor.
Javid is certainly well-qualified for the job, reports DCB Media. Before getting into politics, he worked in business and finance. At just 25, he became a Vice President at Chase Manhattan Bank, later moving to Deutsche Bank in London to help build its business in emerging market countries. Sajid left Deutsche Bank as a Senior Managing Director in the summer of 2009 to “give something back” through politics. Between 2015 and 16 he was the UK’s Government’s Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade.
The DCB Media article reveals that while some existing challenger banks across the UK are upsetting their customers by adding charges for some services, JP Morgan Chase’s plan of launching its own new digital bank in the City in the spring under the Chase brand is creating nervous waves among potential rivals. It comes as other new banks have been pulling out all the stops to boost their income. This new kid on the block - a hugely experienced financial institution - looks destined to shake up the industry just when hard-pressed consumers need it most.
The Chase digital bank will be offering the usual range of services to include current accounts, savings accounts, loan products and open banking-related services. As more and more people have struggled with their finances due to the adverse and financially damaging effects of the coronavirus, the new bank could well offer a viable beacon in consumer money management and support without crippling costs. The bank will provide UK banking customers with a new option supported by a well-known brand.
According to the DCB Media article, initial rumours about the new digital bank were started by a well-known media giant just before the Covid-19 lockdown and are now proving to be true. JP Morgan Chase have allegedly established agreements with cloud and digital banking infrastructure providers as the US banking giant prepares to expand its digital offerings to UK customers.
The DCB Media report suggests that, despite there being no official announcement on the creation of a new Chase brand digital bank in the UK next year, ‘certain key details have been put in place by one of the US’ top banks.’
After meeting with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) early in 2020 to discuss and plan for the venture, JP Morgan Chase reportedly signed an agreement with Amazon Web Services for the provision of secure cloud services. Meanwhile, 10x Future Technologies has been named as the supplier of a new digital banking base that will be used by the company’s new UK customers.
Besides Sajid Javid, reports DCB Media, who’s well placed to support the bank’s plans to open a new digital bank in the UK, one of the FCA’s former executives Clive Adamson is expected to be named as chairman.
But we must not overlook the fact that JP Morgan’s digital expansion history hasn’t all been good. It withdrew its Finn app last year, created just 12 months earlier, which had been aimed at a younger US, digitally switched-on consumer audience. It had to make a fast change around, linking them instead to its then newly-developed digital Chase bank services and app, which continues to operate successfully. 
Undoubtedly Chase’s new digital option for UK banking customers will prove attractive to the country’s population who are increasingly making use of the growing number of digital financial services that are already available and its launch will likely be accompanied by a massive blitz marketing campaign.
You can see the full DCB Media report JP Morgan Chase to Launch UK Challenger Bank in 2021 at https://dbcmedia.co.uk/2020/09/24/jp-morgan-chase-to-launch-uk-challenger-bank-in-2021/