Stepping into the new Chase bank branch at 4372 Southside Blvd., near the intersection of Touchton Road, you’ll probably notice something is missing: teller windows.
Chase opened its first three Jacksonville branches on Tuesday, as part of a plan to establish a retail banking presence in Northeast Florida.
The Jacksonville offices were designed as “branches of the future,” which the company said were created in response to customer feedback.
The branches will be staffed with Chase representatives, but the design encourages customers to do most of their business electronically.
“We’re moving to consulting with our customers,” said Chase spokeswoman Maribel Ferrer.
The technology includes “express banking kiosks” that perform like automated teller machines but offer more services than a traditional ATM.
For example, instead of withdrawing cash in all $20 bills, customers can choose their own mix of denominations for their cash, including $1 bills.
“It’s a more enhanced experience,” Ferrer said.
Chase, which now operates 355 branches throughout Florida, revealed plans this year to open about a dozen new branches in the Jacksonville market.
Its parent company, JPMorgan Chase & Co., already employs about 3,800 people in Jacksonville but they work mainly in the company’s mortgage banking division. The only local Chase bank branch was at its mortgage operations center at 7301 Baymeadows Way.
However, the company is now making a push to attract more personal banking customers in the Jacksonville market.
In addition to the Southside Boulevard office, Chase opened branches Tuesday at the intersection of University and San Jose boulevards and at Riverside Avenue and Margaret Street.
Chase expects to open three more Jacksonville branches by the end of the year, said Steve Vachon, Chase’s market leader for the Jacksonville area. The company will also open its 16th stand-alone ATM in Jacksonville Beach this week.
Chase has begun actively marketing its branches this week, with newspaper and radio advertisements starting Tuesday, Vachon said.
It also launched a website, chase.com/jax, to promote the bank and events in the community. Vachon said the website is unique to this market.
“Our other cities don’t have microsites,” he said.
Chase last week announced it is sponsoring a Tim McGraw concert at Mayport Naval Station on Nov. 10 to honor military members and their families.
The concert will be broadcast to military personnel around the world on the Pentagon Channel and on the Internet.
Parent company JPMorgan Chase has been under scrutiny from a number of regulatory agencies, in the United States and abroad, over trading and mortgage-related issues.
The company last week reported a net loss of $380 million in the third quarter, due to $7.2 billion in after-tax legal expenses because of “escalating demands and penalties from multiple government agencies,” Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said in a news release.
However, the global company’s consumer and community banking division reported third-quarter profits rose by 15 percent to $2.7 billion.
Vachon said the parent company’s legal issues aren’t having an impact on its bank-branch business.
“Locally, we’ve had nothing but a great reception,” he said.
During a grand opening ceremony at the Southside Boulevard branch, Mayor Alvin Brown said Chase’s expanding bank presence will help Jacksonville.
“Having the brand in the city is so important,” he said.
“Chase is a global brand and we want to be a part of that global community.”
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