Original synthesis to sit alongside the encyclopedia article below. Not part of Wikipedia; verify facts on Wikipedia when precision matters.
Chase Bank is a leading American commercial bank and a core subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., offering retail banking, credit cards, investment services, corporate financing and other financial products to individual customers, small businesses and large institutions.
Key moments
1799Manhattan Company, the earliest predecessor of Chase Bank, was founded
1955Chase National Bank merged with Manhattan Company to form Chase Manhattan Bank
2000Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. to create JPMorgan Chase
2008Acquired the banking assets of Washington Mutual during the global financial crisis
Competitive Landscape of Chase Bank
Chase operates in multiple highly competitive financial segments:
Retail Banking: Faces direct competition from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citizens Financial Group, with its largest advantages lying in its extensive domestic branch network and leading credit card user scale.
Investment Banking: Competes with Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's institutional banking division, especially excelling in U.S. dollar clearing and corporate merger advisory services.
Consumer Financial Products: Ranks among the top credit card issuers globally, competing with Capital One, American Express and Discover Financial Services.
Overall, Chase is one of the most comprehensive financial service providers in the U.S., with balanced strengths in both retail and institutional business.
Top-tier domestic retail banking footprint in the U.S.
Leading global U.S. dollar clearing business volume
One of the largest credit card issuers worldwide
Chase Bank, as the core retail and commercial banking subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., holds substantial brand strength rooted in its dominant position across multiple U.S. financial services segments. The brand benefits from the scale and reputation of its parent company, one of the largest financial institutions in the world, allowing it to invest heavily in brand building, customer experience, and infrastructure that smaller competitors struggle to match. Its broad product portfolio spanning checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages, corporate financing, and investment banking creates multiple touchpoints that reinforce brand familiarity and customer loyalty.
The brand’s physical and digital presence contributes significantly to its strength, with an extensive branch network across the United States that provides tangible accessibility for customers, alongside a leading mobile banking platform that caters to growing digital demand. Chase also maintains high brand visibility through major marketing campaigns and high-profile sponsorships, including naming rights to major sports venues, which keeps the brand top-of-mind for consumers across demographic groups.
While Chase faces intense competition in every segment it operates in, its balanced business model across consumer and institutional banking helps it offset risks and maintain consistent brand performance. It has built a reputation for reliability that is critical in the financial services sector, which further strengthens its overall brand equity among both retail and corporate clients.
Brand Leadership
Score: 90/100
Chase holds leading market positions across multiple high-volume U.S. financial segments, including retail banking, credit card issuance, and corporate U.S. dollar clearing. It consistently outperforms most peers in customer market share for key retail products, reinforcing its status as a dominant industry leader in the American banking sector.
Customer Interaction
Score: 85/100
Chase maintains frequent, multi-channel interactions with over 50 million domestic customers through its thousands of branches, top-rated mobile banking app, and 24/7 digital customer support. Its popular credit card rewards programs drive ongoing engagement and repeat interaction that strengthens long-term brand retention.
Brand Momentum
Score: 82/100
Chase continues to grow its customer base and market share, particularly in digital banking and co-branded credit card partnerships, as it invests consistently in updating digital platforms and expanding product offerings to meet evolving consumer expectations. The brand has steadily gained share against regional and smaller national competitors in recent years.
Brand Stability
Score: 95/100
As part of JPMorgan Chase, a systemically important global financial institution with a proven track record of navigating economic cycles, Chase benefits from extremely high perceived financial stability. It has maintained consistent brand positioning and public trust even through periods of recession and financial market volatility, reinforcing its stable, reliable reputation.
Brand Age Heritage
Score: 88/100
The Chase brand traces its origins back to the early 19th century, with over 200 years of operating history in the U.S. banking sector. This long heritage has allowed it to build deep trust and recognition among multiple generations of consumers and business clients, creating enduring brand equity.
Industry Profile
Score: 92/100
Chase is one of the most high-profile brands in the global financial services industry, widely recognized for its unique balanced business model across both retail consumer banking and institutional investment banking. It often sets industry trends in areas like digital banking integration and credit card rewards, shaping competitor strategies across the sector.
Global Brand Penetration
Score: 45/100
While Chase's parent company JPMorgan Chase has extensive global institutional operations, the Chase retail banking brand remains heavily concentrated in the United States, with very limited retail brand presence outside of North America. Its relatively low globalization score reflects its strategic focus on its large, profitable domestic market.
AI can support preliminary reasoning about the brand value of Chase Bank, any estimated figures from AI analysis are illustrative only. For a fully audited, official brand value assessment, contact World Brand Lab.
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in Columbus that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the American multinational banking and financial services holding company, JPMorgan Chase.The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000.[3] Chase Manhattan Bank was formed by the merger of the Chase National Bank and the Manhattan Company in 1955.[4] The bank merged with Chemical Bank New York in 1996 and later merged with Bank One Corporation in 2004[5] and in 2008 acquired the deposits and most assets of
Chase offers more than 5,000 branches and 15,000 ATMs nationwide and has 18.5 million checking accounts and 25 million debit card users as of 2023.[1] JPMorgan Chase & Co. has 250,355 employees (as of 2016) and operates in more than 100 countries.JPMorgan Chase & Co. had assets of $3.31 trillion in 2022 which makes it the largest bank in the United States[6] as well as the bank with the most branches in the United States[7] and the only bank with a presence in all of the contiguous United States.[8] JPMorgan Chase, through its Chase subsidiary, is one of the Big Four banks of the United States.[9][10]
History
The Bank of The Manhattan Company (New York) was founded on September 1, 1799, and continued under that name until 1955, when it merged with the Chase National Bank, which was founded in 1877; the merged bank was called The Chase Manhattan Bank.[11][12]
The Manhattan Company
Chase traces its history back to the founding of The Manhattan Company by Aaron Burr on September 1, 1799, in a house at 40 Wall Street:[3]
"After an epidemic of yellow fever in 1798, during which coffins had been sold by itinerant vendors on street corners, Aaron Burr established the Manhattan Company, with the ostensible aim of bringing clean water to the city from the Bronx River but in fact, designed as a front for the creation of New York's second bank, rivaling Alexander Hamilton's Bank of New York."
In 2006, the modern-day Chase bought the retail banking division of the Bank of New York, which then only months later merged with Pittsburgh-based Mellon Financial to form the present-day BNY Mellon.[14][15]
Chase National Bank
Chase National Bank was formed in 1877 by John Thompson.[3] It was named after former United States Treasury Secretary and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase,[4] although Chase (having died four years earlier) did not have a connection with the bank.[3]
The Chase National Bank acquired a number of smaller banks in the 1920s through its Chase Securities Corporation. In 1926, for instance, it acquired Mechanics and Metals National Bank.
However, its most significant acquisition was that of the Equitable Trust Company of New York in 1930, the largest stockholder of which was John D. Rockefeller Jr.[16] This made Chase the largest bank in the US and the world.
Chase was primarily a wholesale bank dealing with other prominent financial institutions and major corporate clients such as General Electric
Merger as Chase Manhattan Bank
In 1955, Chase National Bank and The Manhattan Company merged to create the Chase Manhattan Bank.[3] As Chase was a much larger bank, it was first intended that Chase acquire the "Bank of Manhattan", as it was nicknamed, but it transpired that Burr's original charter for the Manhattan Company had not only included the clause allowing it to start a bank with surplus funds, but another requiring unanimous consent of shareholders for the bank to be taken over.The deal was therefore structured as an acquisition by the Bank of the Manhattan Company of Chase National, with John J. McCloy becoming chairman of the merged entity. This avoided the need for unanimous consent by shareholders.
For Chase Manhattan Bank's new logo, Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar designed a stylized octagon in 1960, and was officially rolled out on November 22.It remains part of the bank's logo today.[18] It has been reported that the Chase logo was a stylized representation of the primitive water pipes laid by the Manhattan Company,[19] but this story was refuted in 2007 by Ivan Chermayeff himself.According to Chermayeff, the Chase logo was merely intended to be distinctive and geometric, and was not intended at all to resemble a cross-section of a wooden water pipe.[20]
Mergers with Chemical, J.P. Morgan
In August 1995, Chemical Bank of New York and Chase Manhattan Bank announced plans to merge.[25] The merger was completed in August 1996.[26] Chemical's previous acquisitions included Manufacturers Hanover Corporation, in 1991, and Texas Commerce Bank, in 1987. Although Chemical was the nominal survivor, the merged company retained the Chase name since not only was it better known (particularly outside the United States), but also the original charter of Chase required that the name be retained in any future business ventures. Hence, even today, it is known as JPMorgan Chase.
In December 2000, the combined Chase Manhattan completed the acquisition of J.P. Morgan & Co. in one of the largest banking mergers to date.The combined company was renamed JPMorgan Chase.In 2004, the bank acquired Bank One, making Chase the largest credit card issuer in the United States.JPMorgan Chase added Bear Stearns
Bank One Corporation
In 2004, JPMorgan Chase merged with Chicago-based Bank One Corp., bringing on board its current chairman and CEOJamie Dimon as president and COO and designating him as CEO William B. Harrison Jr.'s successor.Dimon's pay was pegged at 90% of Harrison's. Dimon quickly made his influence felt by embarking on a cost-cutting strategy and replaced former JPMorgan Chase executives in key positions with Bank One executives—many of whom were with Dimon at Citigroup.Dimon became CEO in January 2006 and chairman in December 2006 after Harrison's resignation.[30]
Bank One Corporation was formed upon the 1998 merger between Banc One of Columbus, Ohio and First Chicago NBD. These two large banking companies were themselves created through the merger of many banks. JPMorgan Chase completed the acquisition of Bank One in Q3 2004.The merger between Bank One and JPMorgan Chase meant that corporate headquarters were now in New York City while the retail bank operations of Chase were consolidated in Chicago.[31]
Washington Mutual
On September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase bought most banking operations of Washington Mutual from the receivership of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).[33] That night, the Office of Thrift Supervision, in what was by far the largest bank failure in American history, seized Washington Mutual Bank and placed it into receivership. The FDIC sold the bank's assets, secured debt obligations and deposits to JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA for $1.888 billion, which re-opened the bank the following day. As a result of the takeover, Washington Mutual shareholders lost all their equity.[34] Through the acquisition, JPMorgan became owner of the former accounts of Providian Financial, a credit card issuer WaMu acquired in 2005. The company completed the rebranding of Washington Mutual branches to Chase in late 2009.
Other recent acquisitions and expansions
In the first quarter of 2006, Chase purchased Collegiate Funding Services, a portfolio company of private equity firm Lightyear Capital, for $663 million.CFS was used as the foundation for the Chase Student Loans, previously known as Chase Education Finance.[35] In April of that same year, Chase acquired the Bank of New York Co.'s retail and small business banking network.This gave Chase access to 338 additional branches and 700,000 new customers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Indiana.[36]In 2019, Chase began opening retail branches in Pittsburgh and other areas within Western Pennsylvania; this coincided with Bank of America starting a similar expansion within the area the previous year.[37] Even though Chase entered the market organically as opposed to a merger & acquisition, they still had to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to open branches due to Chase's size as a whole.[38]
Expansion outside the US
In September 2021, JPMorgan Chase entered the United Kingdom retail banking market by launching an app-based current account and Deposit account under the Chase brand.This is the company's first retail banking operation outside of the United States.[42][43][44] J.P. Morgan SE will expand this business model to Germany in 2026.[45]
Controversies
World War II
Purchase of Nazi Germany's Reichsmarks
A press release from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in 2004 announced that many of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files had become declassified.This declassification enabled the discovery that before and during the early years of World War II, the German government sold a special kind of Reichsmark, known as Rückwanderer [returnee] Marks, to American citizens of German descent. Chase National Bank, along with other businesses, were involved in these transactions. Through Chase, this allowed Nazi sympathizers to purchase Marks with dollars at a discounted rate.Specifically, "The financial houses understood that the German government paid the commissions (to its agents, including Chase) through the sale of discounted, blocked Marks that came mainly from Jews who had fled Germany."In other words, Nazi Germany was able to offer these Marks below face-value because they had been stolen from émigrés fleeing the Nazi regime.Between 1936 and 1941, the Nazis amassed over $20 million, and the businesses enabling these transactions earned $1.2 million in commissions. Of these commissions, over $500,000 went to Chase National Bank and its subagents.
These facts were discovered when the FBI began its investigation in October 1940. The purpose of the investigation was to follow German-Americans who had bought the Marks. However, Chase National Bank's executives were never federally prosecuted because Chase's lead attorney threatened to reveal FBI, Army, and Navy "sources and methods" in court.Publicly naming the sources and methods could have posed security risks and threatened future intelligence gathering.To avoid such revelations, the executives' violations of the Johnson Act, the Espionage Act, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act were never prosecuted.[46][47][48]
During the occupation of France by the Nazis, there was a controversial scheme known as the Rückwanderer Mark Scheme. In addition to this, NARA records revealed another controversy involving the release of funds to Nazi Germany. From the late 1930s until June 14, 1941, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) issued an Executive Order freezing German assets, Chase National Bank worked with the Nazi government. The order, which blocked access to French accounts in the U.S. by anyone, especially the Nazis, was issued by Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., with the approval of FDR. Despite this order, Chase unblocked the accounts within hours and the funds were transferred through South America to Nazi Germany.
Refusal to release funds belonging to Jews in occupied France
U.S. Treasury officials wanted an investigation of French subsidiaries of American banks, including: Chase Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co, National City Corporation, Guaranty Bank, Bankers Trust, and American Express.Of these banks, only Chase and Morgan remained open in France during the Nazi occupation. The Chase branch chief in Paris, France, Carlos Niedermann, told his supervisor in New York that there had been an "expansion of deposits". Also, Niedermann was, "very vigorous in enforcing restrictions against Jewish property, even going so far as to refuse to release funds belonging to Jews in anticipation that a decree with retroactive provisions prohibiting such release might be published in the near future by the occupying Nazi authorities".
In 1998, Chase general counsel William McDavid said that Chase did not have control over Niedermann. Whether that claim was true or not, Chase Manhattan Bank acknowledged seizing about 100 accounts during the Vichy regime.Kenneth McCallion, a partner in the New York firm Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow,[49] led a lawsuit against Barclays Bank for the illegal seizure of assets during World War Two and has since turned his attention toward Chase.The World Jewish Congress (WJC), entered into discussions with Chase and a spokesperson for the WJC said, "Nobody at Chase today is guilty. They were not involved in whatever happened, but they do accept that they have an institutional responsibility."
Related legal action
In May 1999, Chase Manhattan reached a settlement with 20 plaintiffs who filed an asset reparations lawsuit, such as the Claims Conference, a Jewish restitution organization, and the WJC.The settlement subjected Chase to an independent probe of its conduct of activity which occurred from the company's offices in Paris and Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, in southern France, during the World War II-era.The settlement also made possible the company having to eventually a pay modest but symbolically important, payouts to former Chase customers after the probe was completed.[53] It was determined that Chase only owned a sum that was well under $1 million in asset reparations by this point in time.[53] The settlement made Chase Manhattan the first bank to reach a settlement over Holocaust-related claims.[53]
Public acknowledgement from Chase Manhattan
In February 2000, more than fifty years after information regarding the ties between Chase and Nazi Germany was revealed during Congressional hearings, Chase Manhattan publicly acknowledged the deal its predecessor Chase National Bank made with Nazi Germany which helped the German government exchange marks and which also likely originated from the forced sale of assets by Jewish refugees.[54]
Purchase of Nazi Germany's Reichsmarks
A press release from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in 2004 announced that many of the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) files had become declassified.This declassification enabled the discovery that before and during the early years of World War II, the German government sold a special kind of Reichsmark, known as Rückwanderer [returnee] Marks, to American citizens of German descent. Chase National Bank, along with other businesses, were involved in these transactions. Through Chase, this allowed Nazi sympathizers to purchase Marks with dollars at a discounted rate.Specifically, "The financial houses understood that the German government paid the commissions (to its agents, including Chase) through the sale of discounted, blocked Marks that came mainly from Jews who had fled Germany."In other words, Nazi Germany was able to offer these Marks below face-value because they had been stolen from émigrés fleeing the Nazi regime.Between 1936 and 1941, the Nazis amassed over $20 million, and the businesses enabling these transactions earned $1.2 million in commissions. Of these commissions, over $500,000 went to Chase National Bank and its subagents.
These facts were discovered when the FBI began its investigation in October 1940. The purpose of the investigation was to follow German-Americans who had bought the Marks. However, Chase National Bank's executives were never federally prosecuted because Chase's lead attorney threatened to reveal FBI, Army, and Navy "sources and methods" in court.Publicly naming the sources and methods could have posed security risks and threatened future intelligence gathering.To avoid such revelations, the executives' violations of the Johnson Act
Refusal to release funds belonging to Jews in occupied France
U.S. Treasury officials wanted an investigation of French subsidiaries of American banks, including: Chase Bank, J.P. Morgan & Co, National City Corporation, Guaranty Bank, Bankers Trust, and American Express.Of these banks, only Chase and Morgan remained open in France during the Nazi occupation. The Chase branch chief in Paris, France, Carlos Niedermann, told his supervisor in New York that there had been an "expansion of deposits". Also, Niedermann was, "very vigorous in enforcing restrictions against Jewish property, even going so far as to refuse to release funds belonging to Jews in anticipation that a decree with retroactive provisions prohibiting such release might be published in the near future by the occupying Nazi authorities".
In 1998, Chase general counsel William McDavid said that Chase did not have control over Niedermann. Whether that claim was true or not, Chase Manhattan Bank acknowledged seizing about 100 accounts during the Vichy regime.Kenneth McCallion, a partner in the New York firm Goodkind Labaton Rudoff & Sucharow,[49] led a lawsuit against Barclays Bank for the illegal seizure of assets during World War Two and has since turned his attention toward Chase.The World Jewish Congress (WJC), entered into discussions with Chase and a spokesperson for the WJC said, "Nobody at Chase today is guilty. They were not involved in whatever happened, but they do accept that they have an institutional responsibility."
Related legal action
In May 1999, Chase Manhattan reached a settlement with 20 plaintiffs who filed an asset reparations lawsuit, such as the Claims Conference, a Jewish restitution organization, and the WJC.The settlement subjected Chase to an independent probe of its conduct of activity which occurred from the company's offices in Paris and Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, in southern France, during the World War II-era.The settlement also made possible the company having to eventually a pay modest but symbolically important, payouts to former Chase customers after the probe was completed.[53] It was determined that Chase only owned a sum that was well under $1 million in asset reparations by this point in time.[53] The settlement made Chase Manhattan the first bank to reach a settlement over Holocaust-related claims.[53]
Public acknowledgement from Chase Manhattan
In February 2000, more than fifty years after information regarding the ties between Chase and Nazi Germany was revealed during Congressional hearings, Chase Manhattan publicly acknowledged the deal its predecessor Chase National Bank made with Nazi Germany which helped the German government exchange marks and which also likely originated from the forced sale of assets by Jewish refugees.[54]
2010s and 2020s
JPMorgan Chase has paid $16 billion in fines, settlements, and other litigation expenses from 2011 to 2013. Of the $16 billion JPMorgan Chase has paid, about $8.5 billion were for fines and settlements resulting from illegal actions taken by bank executives, according to Richard Eskow at the Campaign for America's Future, who cited a new report from Joshua Rosner of Graham Fisher & Co.
The $16 billion total does not include a recent settlement that calls for JPMorgan Chase to pay $100 million to waive $417 million in claims it had made against clients of the firm MF Global.
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control found that JPMorgan had illegally aided dictatorships in Cuba, Sudan, Liberia and Iran, including transferring 32,000 ounces of gold bullion (valued at approximately $20,560,000) to the benefit of a bank in Iran.JPMorgan did not voluntarily self-disclose the Iranian matter to OFAC.[55]
Among its other transgressions, JPMorgan has been found to have:[56][57]
Targeted account closures
During 2013 and 2014, Chase and other banks received media attention for the practice of cancelling the personal and business accounts of hundreds of legal sex workers, citing in some instances the "morality clause" of their account agreement.[62] Later it was discovered that this practice included mortgage accounts and business loans.[63] Chase canceled the mortgage refinancing process for one individual, which the bank had initiated, whose production company made soft core films like those broadcast on Cinemax.[64] This resulted in a lawsuit[65] which cited evasive dealings and misleading statements by several Chase executives including Securities Vice President Adam Gelcich, Legal Fair Lending Department Vice President Deb Vincent, and an unnamed executive director and assistant general counsel.[66]
In addition to closing accounts for sex workers, the bank has also been using its "morality clause" to disassociate from other types of businesses.
Dakota Access Pipeline
Financial documents[70] from Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder for the Dakota Access Pipeline, lists a number of large banking institutions that have provided credit for the project, including JPMorgan Chase.Because of these financial ties, Chase and other banks were a target[71] of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests during 2016 and 2017.
Parental leave policy
JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $5 million to compensate their male employees who did not receive the same paid parental leave as women from 2011 to 2017.[72] In December 2017, the bank "clarified its policy to ensure equal access to men and women looking to be their new child's main caregiver".[73] According to the involved attorneys, this is the biggest recorded settlement in a U.S. parental leave discrimination case.JPMorgan agreed to train and monitor to ensure equal parental leave benefits and stated that "its policy was always intended to be gender-neutral".[74]
Fossil fuel investment
Chase has faced criticism and protests over its high rate of investment in various fossil fuel industries such as coal, oil, and gas.[75] A study released in October 2019 indicated that Chase invests more ($75 billion) in fossil fuels than any other bank.[76]
Unequal lending practices
An analysis of home purchases in Chicago from 2012 to 2018 by City Bureau and WBEZ Chicago showed that JPMorgan Chase, "loaned 41 times more in Chicago's white neighborhoods than it did in the city's black neighborhoods".[77] The report prompted protests at Chicago Chase branches in June 2020.[78] At a reopening of a remodeled Chase branch in Chicago's South Shore, Dimon said via video, "we have targets now to do $600 million (over the next five years) in new mortgages for Blacks and new homeowners in Chicago neighborhoods".[79]
Facilitation of sex trafficking
The U.S. government sued JPMorgan Chase Bank in 2022, alleging that the bank "facilitated, sustained, and concealed the human trafficking network operated by Jeffrey Epstein."[80]
ATM glitch incident
In 2024, a glitch occurred in Chase's ATMs which allowed users to withdraw money using fraudulent checks.[81] This type of bank fraud is commonly known as check kiting.
15.Chaudhuri, R. R., The Changing Face of American Banking: Deregulation, Reregulation, and the Global Financial System (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. 23–26.^
47.Richard Breitman, Norman Goda, Timothy Naftali, Robert Wolfe. U.S. Intelligence and the Nazis Cambridge University Press, April 4, 2005, retrieved September 13, 2013^
subsidiary, leased prominent space and become a crucial first tenant of
Rockefeller Center
.
They rescued that major project in 1930.
The bank is also closely associated with and has financed the oil industry, having longstanding connections with its board of directors to the successor companies of Standard Oil, especially ExxonMobil, which are also part of Rockefeller holdings.
According to Chase, the sides of the octagon represent forward motion, while the blank space in the middle suggests progress originates from the center; and is a single unit made up of separate parts, like the bank.
The bank included an asset management business called the Chase Investors Management Corporation.
Under McCloy's successor, George Champion, the bank relinquished its antiquated 1799 state charter for a modern one.
In 1969, under the leadership of David Rockefeller, the bank reorganized as a bank holding company, the Chase Manhattan Corporation.[4]
The mergers and acquisitions during this period allowed Chase Manhattan to expand its influence over many non-financial corporations. A 1979 study titled "The Significance of Bank Control over Large Corporations"[22] found that: "The Rockefeller-controlled Chase Manhattan Bank tops the list, controlling 16 companies."In 1985, Chase Manhattan expanded into Arizona by acquiring Continental Bank.[23] In 1991, Chase Manhattan expanded into Connecticut by acquiring two insolvent banks.[24]
to its acquisitions in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
After closing nearly 400 overlapping branches of the combined company, less than 10% of its total, Chase will have approximately 5,410 branches in 23 states as of the closing date of the acquisition.[27][28] According to data from SNL Financial (data as of June 30, 2008), this places Chase third behind Wells Fargo and Bank of America in terms of total U.S. retail bank branches.
In October 2010, Chase was named in two lawsuits alleging manipulation of the silver market.[29] The suits allege that by managing giant positions in silver futures and options, the banks influenced the prices of silver on the Comex Exchange since early 2008.
The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors to 1995 (this is not a comprehensive list):
The following is an illustration of Bank One's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):
Before Chase and Bank of America expanded its retail presence into the market, Pittsburgh had been one of the largest U.S. cities without a retail presence from any of the
(no. 6 nationally) having a commanding market share in the area.
Chase had previously considered buying National City branches from PNC that were required for divestiture following that bank's acquisition of National City in 2009, but were instead sold to First Niagara Bank (since absorbed into KeyBank); it had been speculated that PNC intentionally sold the branches to a much smaller competitor due to not wanting to compete with a "Big Four" bank in its home market.[39]
In August 2021, Chase announced that it was the first bank to have a retail presence in all 48 of the contiguous United States.The last state in the US to have a Chase branch was Montana, with the branch in Billings the first branch in the state.[40][41]
A Chase spokesman said, "This is a moral issue that we take very seriously."
Chase general counsel McDavid added, "that Chase intends to compensate Jewish account holders whose assets were illegally plundered".
In 1999, the French government formed a commission to report findings to Prime MinisterLionel Jospin.
Claire Andrieu a commission member and history professor at the Sorbonne, said that under the Vichy regime, French banks received visits from Nazi officials but U.S. banks did not.
At that time, they did not have to report Jewish accounts, but they did just as the French banks did.
She goes on to say that an American ambassador protected the U.S. subsidiaries.[50][51][52]
During the occupation of France by the Nazis, there was a controversial scheme known as the Rückwanderer Mark Scheme. In addition to this, NARA records revealed another controversy involving the release of funds to Nazi Germany. From the late 1930s until June 14, 1941, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) issued an Executive Order freezing German assets, Chase National Bank worked with the Nazi government. The order, which blocked access to French accounts in the U.S. by anyone, especially the Nazis, was issued by Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr., with the approval of FDR. Despite this order, Chase unblocked the accounts within hours and the funds were transferred through South America to Nazi Germany.
A Chase spokesman said, "This is a moral issue that we take very seriously."
Chase general counsel McDavid added, "that Chase intends to compensate Jewish account holders whose assets were illegally plundered".
In 1999, the French government formed a commission to report findings to Prime MinisterLionel Jospin.
Claire Andrieu a commission member and history professor at the Sorbonne, said that under the Vichy regime, French banks received visits from Nazi officials but U.S. banks did not.
At that time, they did not have to report Jewish accounts, but they did just as the French banks did.
She goes on to say that an American ambassador protected the U.S. subsidiaries.[50][51][52]
Wrongfully foreclosed on soldiers; charged veterans hidden fees for refinancing
Violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by making false statements to people seeking automobile loans
Illegally increased their collection of overdraft fees by processing large transactions before smaller ones
Helped drive Jefferson County, Alabama, into bankruptcy by switching its fixed-rate debt to variable
Violated antitrust provision of the Sherman Act relating to bid rigging
Stole and auctioned items from deposit boxes of private individuals and governments.
Targeted account closures
During 2013 and 2014, Chase and other banks received media attention for the practice of cancelling the personal and business accounts of hundreds of legal sex workers, citing in some instances the "morality clause" of their account agreement.[62] Later it was discovered that this practice included mortgage accounts and business loans.[63] Chase canceled the mortgage refinancing process for one individual, which the bank had initiated, whose production company made soft core films like those broadcast on Cinemax.[64] This resulted in a lawsuit[65] which cited evasive dealings and misleading statements by several Chase executives including Securities Vice President Adam Gelcich, Legal Fair Lending Department Vice President Deb Vincent, and an unnamed executive director and assistant general counsel.[66]
In addition to closing accounts for sex workers, the bank has also been using its "morality clause" to disassociate from other types of businesses.[67] Some of these other businesses include medical marijuana dispensaries and any that are "gun related".[67] Another was a woman-owned condom manufacturing company called Lovability Condoms.Company founder Tiffany Gaines was rejected by Chase Paymentech services "as processing sales for adult-oriented products is a prohibited vertical" and was told that it was a "reputational risk" to process payment for condoms.[67] Gaines then started a petition to ask Chase to review and change its policy of classifying condoms as an "adult oriented product".The bank later reversed its decision and invited Gaines to submit an application citing that was already doing business with a "wide variety of merchants, including grocers and drug stores, that sell similar products".[68]
In 2019, the bank faced growing criticism for its alleged practice of arbitrarily targeting the personal accounts of outspoken online personalities such as Martina Markota and Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.Although the specific motives behind the closures were not officially disclosed the assumption among many on the right was that they were political in nature.[69]
Dakota Access Pipeline
Financial documents[70] from Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder for the Dakota Access Pipeline, lists a number of large banking institutions that have provided credit for the project, including JPMorgan Chase.Because of these financial ties, Chase and other banks were a target[71] of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests during 2016 and 2017.
Parental leave policy
JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $5 million to compensate their male employees who did not receive the same paid parental leave as women from 2011 to 2017.[72] In December 2017, the bank "clarified its policy to ensure equal access to men and women looking to be their new child's main caregiver".[73] According to the involved attorneys, this is the biggest recorded settlement in a U.S. parental leave discrimination case.JPMorgan agreed to train and monitor to ensure equal parental leave benefits and stated that "its policy was always intended to be gender-neutral".[74]
Fossil fuel investment
Chase has faced criticism and protests over its high rate of investment in various fossil fuel industries such as coal, oil, and gas.[75] A study released in October 2019 indicated that Chase invests more ($75 billion) in fossil fuels than any other bank.[76]
Unequal lending practices
An analysis of home purchases in Chicago from 2012 to 2018 by City Bureau and WBEZ Chicago showed that JPMorgan Chase, "loaned 41 times more in Chicago's white neighborhoods than it did in the city's black neighborhoods".[77] The report prompted protests at Chicago Chase branches in June 2020.[78] At a reopening of a remodeled Chase branch in Chicago's South Shore, Dimon said via video, "we have targets now to do $600 million (over the next five years) in new mortgages for Blacks and new homeowners in Chicago neighborhoods".[79]
Facilitation of sex trafficking
The U.S. government sued JPMorgan Chase Bank in 2022, alleging that the bank "facilitated, sustained, and concealed the human trafficking network operated by Jeffrey Epstein."[80]
ATM glitch incident
In 2024, a glitch occurred in Chase's ATMs which allowed users to withdraw money using fraudulent checks.[81] This type of bank fraud is commonly known as check kiting.
Another was a woman-owned condom manufacturing company called
Lovability Condoms
.
Company founder Tiffany Gaines was rejected by Chase Paymentech services "as processing sales for adult-oriented products is a prohibited vertical" and was told that it was a "reputational risk" to process payment for condoms.[67] Gaines then started a petition to ask Chase to review and change its policy of classifying condoms as an "adult oriented product".
The bank later reversed its decision and invited Gaines to submit an application citing that was already doing business with a "wide variety of merchants, including grocers and drug stores, that sell similar products".[68]
In 2019, the bank faced growing criticism for its alleged practice of arbitrarily targeting the personal accounts of outspoken online personalities such as Martina Markota and Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio.Although the specific motives behind the closures were not officially disclosed the assumption among many on the right was that they were political in nature.[69]
