Chase Continues Growth and Investment in California in 2012

Investment to add more than 1,200 jobs, expand network to more than 1,000 branches

LOS ANGELES--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Chase announced today that it will continue its investment in California by opening more than 80 new branches and adding more than 1,200 jobs to better serve customers in 2012.

“We are creating many jobs, including construction workers to build the branches, vendors to provide services to Chase and, most importantly, branch employees to help our customers with their financial needs.”

Chase plans to add approximately 175 branches nationwide in 2012. Nearly half of the new branches in 2012 will be in California. During the past 3 years, Chase has added more than 200 branches in California and more than 6,000 jobs.

The new branches will extend Chase’s network to more than 1,000 bank branches and more than 4,000 ATMs across California.

Chase will open:

• About 60 branches in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties;
• About 25 branches in Northern California, including San Francisco Bay Area and its surrounding counties, Sacramento Delta; and
• About 10 branches in Central California, including Kern, Tulare, Fresno San Luis Obispo, and Madera counties.

“California is a state with many opportunities for growth, and we plan to invest significantly in the people, facilities and technology needed to serve California consumers and businesses well,” said Pablo Sanchez, head of Chase’s branch network in the Western United States. “We are creating many jobs, including construction workers to build the branches, vendors to provide services to Chase and, most importantly, branch employees to help our customers with their financial needs.”

Chase provides branch banking services, online and mobile banking, investments, credit cards, and mortgages and other loans to 14.5 million consumers and small businesses in the state. The company employs more than 20,500 people in the state and plans to invest more than $10 million through grants to California non-profits in 2012.

Chase continues its commitment to small businesses and is ranked the #1 SBA Lender. By the third quarter of 2011, Chase made $12.6 billion in loans to small businesses, of which 27% or almost $3.5 billion of those loans were made in California.

“Our 14,000 branch employees in California – including personal and business bankers, mortgage officers and investment specialists – work to help customers realize their financial goals,” Sanchez said.

In the last three years, Chase also has opened 18 Homeownership Centers across California to provide face-to-face loan counseling to families struggling with mortgage payments. Chase counselors at the centers already have worked with more than 60,000 families.

About Chase

Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Chase serves consumers and businesses in California through more than 930 bank branches and 3,700 ATMs, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking. JPMorgan Chase employs more than 20,500 Californians. In 2010, JPMorgan Chase and its Foundation contributed more than $23 million to nonprofit organizations in California, focusing on community development, education and arts & culture. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.