Here’s where JPMorgan Chase could add bank branches in the Triangle
It appears as if Wall Street banking stalwart JPMorgan Chase will soon be opening locations in the Triangle.
The bank was approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to open branches in Chapel Hill and Raleigh.
The Chapel Hill location would be at the Carolina Square development on Franklin Street and the Raleigh location would be coming to the under-construction Midtown East shopping destination on Wake Forest Road, according to the application. The Triangle Business Journal first reported the approval.
JPMorgan Chase is expanding its physical presence across the country. In January, the bank said it would open up 400 new branches over the next five years and hire around 3,000 more branch-based employees. Currently, the company has 5,130 branches in 23 states, and the company said it plans to expand into 15 to 20 new markets.
At the same time, the company said it would be raising minimum wages for retail branch workers from a range of $12 per hour to $16.50 per hour to between $15 per hour and $18 per hour.
A spokesman for JPMorgan Chase wouldn’t confirm the two new branches, but did say the bank is eying the Carolinas market.
“We announced earlier this year that we plan to build up to 400 new Chase branches in several new markets over the next five years,” said Michael Fusco, Southeast communications director for PMorgan Chase, in an email Monday. “We are not in some major markets like the Carolinas, but hope to be soon. We’re still confirming our plans, and will share more details with you as soon as we can.”
The company has previously said that physical locations are one of its biggest drivers of customer growth.
“Seventy-five percent of our deposit growth comes from customers who use our branches,” Thasunda Duckett, chief executive of Chase consumer banking, told Reuters earlier this year. “Customers still visit branches, on average, four times a quarter.”
It’s unclear at this point when the branches could open or what services they will offer. The new Chase branches could be scaled down to smaller locations with a mixture of ATMs and as few as two employees, Reuters reported earlier this year.
Chase has had a presence in the Triangle for the past few years, albeit without any retail branches. In 2016, the bank opened a commercial banking office in Cary, The News & Observer previously reported.
