JPMorgan (JPM) To Expand Into Georgia, Open 40 Branches

Progressing on its bid to expand into new markets, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) expects to open about 40 branches in Georgia over a period of three years. The news was reported by Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Majority of the new branches will be opened in the Metro Atlanta, 30% of which will be built in low-and-moderate income communities. Notably, the bank is also making plans to expand into Savannah and Athens by 2020-end.

Additionally, JPMorgan intends to hire roughly 200 local employees to manage these branches. The new hires are likely to include bankers, branch managers, business bankers and financial advisors.

Of late, JPMorgan has announced several expansion plans, which reflect its focused approach to bolster position in new and existing markets. Notably, the recent move expands on its earlier plan to open 25 branches in Georgia as announced in September 2018. At the time, it found Georgia’s economy to be “thriving” and capable of sustaining corporate growth leading to wealth creation.

As of Jun 30, 2018, the Wall Street biggie fell behind Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) , Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and SunTrust (NYSE:STI) , and ranked ninth in terms of the deposit market share in Georgia, per Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

“We are fully committed to creating more economic opportunity for the people of Atlanta and are excited to help even more people in Georgia by expanding into new markets and investing in programs that will help grow local small businesses,” said Thasunda Duckett, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking.

In a conference recently held by Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), CEO Jamie Dimon was optimistic of the branches opened so far in Greater Washington, DC. He said the business in those branches are “very positively growing and expanding”.

Thus, JPMorgan’s robust business profile and diversified product offering will help it gain market share. Further, the bank’s focus to tap new business opportunities, such as the recently announced deal to acquire InstaMed, will enable it to expand reach into lucrative U.S. healthcare payments market.

The stock has rallied 1.1% over the past year against the industry’s decline of 11.1%.

Currently, JPMorgan carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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