JPMorgan unveils virtual branch in China

It's the fourth location globally where it has been rolled out.

According to a release by JPMorgan, the service eliminates the need to be physically present at traditional bank branches, reduces manual interventions and improves turnaround times through faster and more efficient transaction processing.

“Integrated within our J.P. Morgan ACCESS OnlineSM portal, which was recently named the top-ranking cash management portal globally by Greenwich Associates, the Virtual Branch allows clients to upload, check and store their supporting documents electronically,” said Rani Gu, Head of Treasury Services, China, and Head of Treasury Services Product, Greater China, J.P. Morgan.

“The portal’s sophisticated Dashboard offers track-and-trace capabilities, which allows clients to check and monitor the end-to-end workflow progress of all their cross-border merchandize trade transactions, within a cohesive platform. Email alerts can also be activated to ensure our clients receive instant status updates of all their documentation processes, directly to their mailbox,” she added.

The launch follows the successful introduction of J.P. Morgan’s Virtual Branch in India, Indonesia and Thailand. The number of clients in these countries using the service has been growing rapidly and the bank is expecting strong interest in China as well.

“China is a huge market with increasing cash management demand and J.P. Morgan is well positioned to be a contributor as a leading treasury services provider in the world during Chinese companies’ globalization. We are confident that this new platform will further help us better and more efficiently serve our clients in this market,” Gu added.

J.P. Morgan continues to invest heavily in technology; in 2016, the bank spent $9.5 billion in technology firm-wide, of which approximately $3 billion was dedicated toward new initiatives. By 2017, the firm’s Treasury Services business is expected to increase its technology budget by 12% versus 2014, with investments that include block-chain, big data, cloud computing, robotics and machine learning.

“As a leader in cash management technology and the digitization of treasury solutions, J.P. Morgan is committed to developing innovative products to improve efficiencies in the way clients operate their businesses,” said Gu.