Chase Bank to open branch in Santa Fe
Nov. 6—Santa Fe will get its first Chase Bank branch in the first quarter of 2024 in the former Kimberly's Hallmark Shop location, 2002 Cerrillos Road, Suite H, in the College Plaza shopping center.
A building permit was issued Oct. 13.
Chase Bank, the largest bank in the country, has more than 4,700 branches but only six in New Mexico, all in Albuquerque, all opened since May 2021.
Since 2021, Chase Bank, the retail arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co., is the only bank in the country with branches in all the Lower 48 states.
New Mexico was the 46th state to get a Chase branch, just ahead of Wyoming and Montana, said Claudius Duncan, Chase's market director for those three states.
Chase opened branches in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Arkansas, Mississippi, Vermont and Maine in 2021 to give the bank a branch presence in every state except Hawaii and Alaska. Since announcing expansion plans in 2018, Chase has entered 25 new states and added 400 branches.
"What it's all about is financial health and wellness for all of New Mexico (and America)," Duncan said. "A big part of it is serving small, medium and large business, consumer business, government. Our three priorities are being a bank for all, being a bank that is easy to deal with and being trusted in our communities."
In Albuquerque, three branches opened in 2021 and three branches in 2022.
"Santa Fe was part of the original plan [for New Mexico branches]," Duncan said. "There is still quite a bit of work to do in New Mexico."
A seventh Chase branch is coming to Albuquerque in December, but Duncan did not discuss any additional New Mexico cities or how many branches Santa Fe might get.
"It is very fluid for us," Duncan said. "There is still a lot of opportunity. We are still confirming and finalizing the number of branch locations in Santa Fe."
The Santa Fe branch is being built specifically for the evolving banking world of the 2020s. Gone is the era of a long row of teller windows. Chase will have three transaction windows.
"We are an advice center," said Vince Krakau, the Chase branch manager in Santa Fe who has worked at banks in Santa Fe and Albuquerque for 13 years. "We are building a branch that matches where our clients are now in their lives."
Chase already has 30,000 consumer customers in Santa Fe and 2,100 business customers, Chase spokeswoman Maura Cordova said.
With so much banking now done with smartphones, laptops and ATMs, people have other reasons to visit a branch — and most come with an appointment.
"It's ever-changing life moments," Krakau said. "They buy a house, buy a car, retire, children go to school. It's our job to help them through these life moments. It's international travel. How do I get foreign currency? What do I need to do with my Visa card?"
Krakau also instills financial literacy at schools through Junior Achievement of New Mexico. Chase launched a First Banking for children program in 2020.
"Children can start a full-on checking account and debit card at age 6," Duncan said. "My own children are beneficiaries of First Banking."
The Santa Fe branch will have six offices to build relationships with clients, as well as a conference room, booths and a "living room space with tables and couches," as Duncan describes it. There are also virtual spaces for video conferencing and digital banking.
The branch will have a 24-hour ATM in the lobby and a second ATM inside the branch. The branch hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
As an appointment-driven branch, Chase seeks to keep standing in line to a minimum.
"We want to wait for our clients, not have our clients wait for us," Duncan said.
JPMorgan Chase has $3.9 billion in assets with nearly 80 million consumer clients and nearly 6 million small-business clients.
