JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon exclusive interview

Описание: WCNC Charlotte Anchor Ben Thompson sat down with one of the most influential people in America to talk about the bank's expansion in Charlotte. Below is a transcript of their conversation.

Ben Thompson: We know you're here to open a branch here in Charlotte. What makes Charlotte so appealing?

Jamie Dimon: Well, first of all, Charlotte's been a great growth town and you know, it's headquarters, some of the great banks here. Uh, it's been growing over time. Uh, we've been, I think we opened our first branch like 4 or 5 years ago, and so we're now in all 48 states. So we actually want to be everywhere, even some places that maybe aren't growing as fast as Charlotte, but here you have schools and universities and businesses and research and. Uh, and that's what makes it so appealing. Plus, I like being in the backyard of our toughest competition.

Ben Thompson: I'm sure you do. Uh, you know, you say 5000 branches in all. What would you say to somebody who says that seems a bit antiquated giving online banking today?

Jamie Dimon: What would you say a million people a day visit those branches, and I always say that people want to visit their money. They're much more advice. So in the old days used to be more transactional, but now in the average branch of a, a wealth manager, a mortgage person, a small business specialist, uh, a million people a day go. So half the accounts are still open in branches, and, uh, people, even people who are mostly digital, use a branch every now and then, and even people who are 100% digital sometimes open an account because they have the opportunity to go to the branch if they need to have an emergency. So it helps and believe it or not, it also once we're in town, we start doing more middle market bank it's almost a branding thing more middle market banking, more private banking, more investment banking, more state, local, uh, so very often the state, local, the cities and the hospitals and the schools, they like the fact you're physically there. It makes it easier to actually tell them why they should bank with us. We do have great products and services for them.

Ben Thompson: You, you mentioned the competition, uh, Bank of America, Wells, Trust ally, all have headquarters here. How can Chase compete with that?

Jamie Dimon: It, it's hard, you know, we're like, I think we're the #10 bank here and we're our size is like, you know, we're not even 1/10 of what, uh, some of those banks do, but you know, uh, we, we want to do a great job for ourselves and for our clients. Sometimes, you know, we have different products and services. We could help certain clients in India and China, maybe some other people can. So you, you use your strengths to do a good job for the client. Some of those clients are being very well taken care of, but I don't expect them to move, but we're here, you know, and I think, but I, the other thing I, I've always thought competition is good for everybody. You know, I, when we do, we bank around the world and sometimes they try to hold that competition, and I think it's bad for the countries. I think they're better off having good competition for the citizens of that, of that country.

Ben Thompson: You, you talk about Charlotte and you see a, a young savvy, educated workforce, um, that's especially, uh, savvy when it comes to finance and, and. Um, FinTech, uh, I know you have, uh, uh, an investment bank here that has about 500 people. Any chance you all will expand your footprint here beyond that and beyond just branches?

Jamie Dimon: Yeah, it's possible, you know, once you start, what happens is once you start expanding, you get to know cities and towns and the quality of the workforce stuff like this possibly come up with a new scheme we're gonna build a tech center here or build an op center here or build, you know, uh, uh, we have a lot of specialties. It, it is possible over time. We haven't decided to do that, but I would put that in the realm of possibility.

Ben Thompson: Uh, I wanna talk. About your letter to the shareholders this past spring, and while it was that it was also some would say could substitute for a political party platform, parts of it. You talk about a consistent tax policy, you talk about reforming the education system, you talk about remedying the healthcare system, retirement system, um, building more affordable housing by those standards that you lay out, are our elected officials failing us.

Jamie Dimon: You know, I think, you know, one of the great lessons when you get out, you know, Charlotte or Greenville or, you know, any city is that some places are doing a great job and they're facing their issues. They're working together. It's not as angry as you get, you know, if you listen to like CNN and Fox type thing, uh, yeah, I think, and I made a list of all the issues that are important for the health of America, not just economic but the health of America. The health is one of the things I make of.