JPMorgan buys Nutmeg to bolster digital banking push in UK

AP photo
AP photo

Summary

  • Digital wealth manager Nutmeg has around 140,000 customers and $5 billion in assets

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy digital wealth manager Nutmeg Saving and Investment Ltd., part of a push to establish a retail banking presence in the U.K.

Nutmeg, founded in 2012, has more than 140,000 customers and £3.5 billion under management, the equivalent of around $5 billion. A price for the acquisition wasn’t disclosed but people familiar with the transaction said it was between £500 million and £1 billion.

JPMorgan said in January it would launch a new digital bank in the U.K., offering consumer banking services there for the first time. Called Chase, it is currently being tested internally with JPMorgan employees ahead of a public launch later this year.

Nutmeg’s savings and investment products won’t initially be offered through the retail banking project, the bank said.

JPMorgan is entering a crowded digital banking marketplace in the U.K. Regulators encouraged new startups, including Starling Bank Ltd. and Monzo Bank Ltd., to boost competition in the wake of the last global financial crisis. These so-called challenger banks have forced traditional lenders to improve their digital offerings but have struggled to earn profits.

JPMorgan last year considered making a bid for Starling Bank, founded by Anne Boden in 2014, according to people familiar with the situation.

JPMorgan previously tried to launch a digital bank in U.S. cities and markets where it didn’t have Chase branches, but closed the product, called Finn, in June 2019 after slow pickup. Bank executives have said they learned lessons from that program, including that the Chase brand resonated better than a new name.


This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text

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