JPMorgan Chase now expects its U.K. consumer operation to break even in 12 to 18 months, the bank’s president, Daniel Pinto, told observers at a conference Tuesday, according to Reuters. That’s at least two years ahead of a previously referenced timeline.
Sanoke Viswanathan, chief executive of JPMorgan’s international growth initiatives, said at the bank’s May 2022 investor day that the bank expected its U.K. outfit, Chase, to lose $450 million or a similar amount “for the next few years,” then break even by 2027 or 2028 and “generate significant income thereafter.”
Chase has amassed nearly $20 billion in deposits and about 2 million customers since its launch in September 2021, Pinto said Tuesday, adding “a big percentage of those are fairly actively engaged.”
The bank is building out its U.K. credit card operations and considering offering personal lines of credit, Pinto said Tuesday, according to the Financial Times.
“We are being very disciplined about the cash burn,” he said.
In floating the break-even timeline last year, Viswanathan said banks historically struggle “outside their home markets in retail banking.”
“We think this is changing with digital,” he said at the time.
Pinto on Tuesday spotlight another potential international success for JPMorgan, saying Brazilian digital bank C6 is expected to break even "very soon.”
JPMorgan acquired a 40% stake in the bank in 2021, then boosted that stake to 46% in August.
"We have not made any decision to have a bigger stake or not," Pinto said Tuesday, according to Reuters.
C6 posted a loss equivalent to $452.1 million in 2022 as it increased provisions for credit losses.