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JPMorgan (JPM) to Set Up New Office, Seeks Expansion in Greece
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JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) seeks to expand its presence in Greece. The bank plans for a new office in Athens to support organic growth of its businesses in the country. In Greece, JPM already has offices in Piraeus and Athens, wherein it offers its clients products and services from across its investment banking, payments, and asset and wealth management businesses.
The new office will have a “Payments Innovation Lab,” for which JPMorgan will hire a payments research and development team locally.
Recruitment for the lab is expected to begin immediately, including for a head of the division, which will be announced in the coming months.
JPM is thinking of hiring 50 employees initially. The company’s employees, who are already working across the corporate & investment bank, and asset & wealth management businesses in Athens, will also move to the new office.
Notably, the Payments Innovation Lab will provide research and development to the payments business globally, including working with Onyx by JPM.
Takis Georgakopoulos, the global head of JPMorgan Payments, stated, “We want to stay at the apex of payments innovation, and our new location in Athens will be a key nerve centre for our cutting edge payments innovation work. The firm has a track record of establishing successful tech centres that benefit from the renowned technology and engineering skills of people locally, and this exciting expansion brings that strategy to Greece in the payments space.”
The senior country officer for JPM in Greece, Stelios Papadopoulos, said, “Our investment in a new office and local, highly skilled talent is a testament to J.P. Morgan’s long-term commitment to Greece. We are looking forward to growing our franchise in this market and to continue serving local and international clients from this new home.”
Over the past six months, shares of JPMorgan have gained 13.2% compared with the industry’s rally of 8.9%.
JPMorgan has been trying to expand its footprint in new regions. In 2018, the bank announced plans of entering 25 new markets by opening 400 branches. The company has made substantial progress on this front, having already added more than 230 branches, and has a presence in 48 of 50 U.S. states.
In addition to enhancing market share, the strategy will help the bank grab cross-selling opportunities by increasing its presence in the card and auto loan sectors. Also, in order to better align with customers’ needs, JPMorgan has continuously been moving toward digitizing operations.
However, for JPMorgan, there is tough competition in the digital banking space, especially in the U.K. Several local FinTech players like Monzo Bank Ltd. and Starling Bank Ltd., as well as large traditional banks like HSBC Holdings (HSBC - Free Report) , have been looking to expand digital offerings.
Last year, HSBC added a function to its mobile app that enables customers to invest in a suite of funds for a minimum of 50 pounds. The move by HSBC was aimed at the younger generation of the U.K.
HSBC, which has an online investment advice service in the U.K., has been shifting into app-based wealth management of late to compete with other firms that offer low-cost trading and an easy-to-use digital app that appeals to younger clients.
Also, Goldman Sachs’ (GS - Free Report) online-only bank Marcus, which began operating in the U.K. in 2018 and has more than 500,000 customers, poses a risk to JPMorgan’s expansion efforts.
The key source of Goldman Sachs’ earnings stability is its business diversification. Within traditional banking, a diversified product portfolio has better chances of sustaining growth than many other banks, which have exited some of these areas. Goldman Sachs has continuously been undertaking initiatives to boost its asset management and wealth management businesses, while expanding its digital consumer banking platform. The company remains on track to roll out digital checking facilities.
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JPMorgan (JPM) to Set Up New Office, Seeks Expansion in Greece
JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) seeks to expand its presence in Greece. The bank plans for a new office in Athens to support organic growth of its businesses in the country. In Greece, JPM already has offices in Piraeus and Athens, wherein it offers its clients products and services from across its investment banking, payments, and asset and wealth management businesses.
The new office will have a “Payments Innovation Lab,” for which JPMorgan will hire a payments research and development team locally.
Recruitment for the lab is expected to begin immediately, including for a head of the division, which will be announced in the coming months.
JPM is thinking of hiring 50 employees initially. The company’s employees, who are already working across the corporate & investment bank, and asset & wealth management businesses in Athens, will also move to the new office.
Notably, the Payments Innovation Lab will provide research and development to the payments business globally, including working with Onyx by JPM.
Takis Georgakopoulos, the global head of JPMorgan Payments, stated, “We want to stay at the apex of payments innovation, and our new location in Athens will be a key nerve centre for our cutting edge payments innovation work. The firm has a track record of establishing successful tech centres that benefit from the renowned technology and engineering skills of people locally, and this exciting expansion brings that strategy to Greece in the payments space.”
The senior country officer for JPM in Greece, Stelios Papadopoulos, said, “Our investment in a new office and local, highly skilled talent is a testament to J.P. Morgan’s long-term commitment to Greece. We are looking forward to growing our franchise in this market and to continue serving local and international clients from this new home.”
Over the past six months, shares of JPMorgan have gained 13.2% compared with the industry’s rally of 8.9%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Currently, JPMorgan carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Our View
JPMorgan has been trying to expand its footprint in new regions. In 2018, the bank announced plans of entering 25 new markets by opening 400 branches. The company has made substantial progress on this front, having already added more than 230 branches, and has a presence in 48 of 50 U.S. states.
In addition to enhancing market share, the strategy will help the bank grab cross-selling opportunities by increasing its presence in the card and auto loan sectors. Also, in order to better align with customers’ needs, JPMorgan has continuously been moving toward digitizing operations.
However, for JPMorgan, there is tough competition in the digital banking space, especially in the U.K. Several local FinTech players like Monzo Bank Ltd. and Starling Bank Ltd., as well as large traditional banks like HSBC Holdings (HSBC - Free Report) , have been looking to expand digital offerings.
Last year, HSBC added a function to its mobile app that enables customers to invest in a suite of funds for a minimum of 50 pounds. The move by HSBC was aimed at the younger generation of the U.K.
HSBC, which has an online investment advice service in the U.K., has been shifting into app-based wealth management of late to compete with other firms that offer low-cost trading and an easy-to-use digital app that appeals to younger clients.
Also, Goldman Sachs’ (GS - Free Report) online-only bank Marcus, which began operating in the U.K. in 2018 and has more than 500,000 customers, poses a risk to JPMorgan’s expansion efforts.
The key source of Goldman Sachs’ earnings stability is its business diversification. Within traditional banking, a diversified product portfolio has better chances of sustaining growth than many other banks, which have exited some of these areas. Goldman Sachs has continuously been undertaking initiatives to boost its asset management and wealth management businesses, while expanding its digital consumer banking platform. The company remains on track to roll out digital checking facilities.