JPMorgan Chase & Co. is stepping up its Orange County push two years after coming here by way of its acquisition of Washington Mutual Inc.
This year, New York-based Chase plans to add eight bank branches and more than 100 employees in the county, with similar expansion planned for 2011.
“In the next two or three years, these numbers will continue to rise,” said Andy Carney, who heads local branches for Chase from an Irvine office.
Carney earlier worked in New York for Washington Mutual and replaced George Kaye, the thrift’s former top official here who left WaMu in early 2009.
Since taking over Seattle-based WaMu in late 2009 in a $1.9 billion deal, Chase has added more than 200 employees here as it tries to unseat Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. for the county’s banking crown.
Taking over WaMu—formerly the largest savings and loan operating in the county—gave Chase a sizable slice of the local market. But it has a way to go to catch up to the two biggies of banking here.
Chase has $6.1 billion in deposits in the county, or 8.5% of the market, according to second-quarter figures from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA dominates at $16.2 billion, or 22.5% of the market. San Francisco-based Wells is at $10.9 billion, or 15.2%.
In OC, Chase is hoping to emulate acquisition-driven gains it has seen in other markets, including Chicago, New York and Phoenix.
In the past decade, JPMorgan bought New York’s Chase Manhattan Corp. and then Chicago’s Bank One Corp., adding branches, employees and lines of business.
“In those markets we have a majority of market share,” Carney said. “We can’t say that in California.”
OC has presented its own challenge. Chase has brought on more bankers to handle some 15,000 to 25,000 monthly transactions done at branches here.
As a thrift, WaMu more heavily relied on bank tellers to handle customers.
Before WaMu was brought to the point of near collapse by bad mortgages, it was among the largest financial institutions operating here, alongside BofA and Wells. But WaMu wasn’t big in business banking.
Chase brought in Paul Kaufman in 2009 from Chicago to lead local business banking, which now employs 42 people. The division targets businesses with $20 million to $500 million in yearly revenue.
Kaufman said he plans to hire another 20 staffers by the first quarter.
BofA, Wells
Going up against BofA and Wells is difficult, he said. Like those banks, Chase is looking to a range of services—from retail and business banking to investment management for the wealthy—to grow business here.
“Chase is here to dominate the market,” Kaufman said.
BofA and Wells have decades of history in OC and have benefited from acquisitions of their own.
BofA long has been the market share leader here, a reign that extends from at least 1994, the earliest year of market share data available online from the FDIC.
The bank’s history in OC dates back to 1914 with the opening of a predecessor bank, First Bank of La Habra. In 1955, BofA opened a branch inside Disneyland when the theme park opened. The original bank vault still is there.
BofA now has nearly 100 branches here but won’t add any this year, according to officials. It does plan to add about 500 workers in consumer banking.
The company’s early 2009 buy of Merrill Lynch & Co. for about $50 billion instantly transformed BofA into the dominant local player in wealth management.
Merrill Lynch manages more than $25 billion in local money and has grown its number of financial advisers by more than 20% to around 240 this year.
BofA also has fo-cused on expanding Merrill Lynch’s private banking and investment group, which serves clients with at least $10 million in their accounts.
“Our significant local business and commercial banking presence combined with our global banking platform provides tremendous benefit to our Orange County business clients,” said Greg Mech, Orange County market president for Bank of America. “This has been bolstered by the Merrill Lynch acquisition, which comes as more Orange County companies look to the capital markets for business growth.”
BofA’s business banking arm has grown about 20% this year to about 75 people.
1860
Wells’ operations here date back to 1860 when it appointed its first agent here, in Anaheim. The first Wells office opened in 1868.
Last year, Wells added 13 branches after consolidating 25 former Wachovia Corp. branches following its $15 billion acquisition in 2008. Wells runs 106 banking locations throughout the county, the most among banks here.
“Wells Fargo welcomes the competition in the marketplace, particularly because it ultimately benefits the consumer,” said Rob Myers, Wells regional president for Orange County. “It’s really business as usual for us as we continue to focus on serving our customers and growing our business.”
Chase in OC:
Deposits: $6.1 billion
Market share: 8.5%
Employees 2,251
Branches 65
ATMs 290
Loan modification centers 1
