JPMorgan Chase Starts In-House FinTech Incubator

Over the past few years JPMorgan Chase has had a somewhat turbulent relationship with FinTech but has seemingly come to embrace it more in recent months. To that point now comes news that the too-big-to-fail bank is launching an in-house incubator aimed at developing FinTech startups. According to Bloomberg the institution is launching a six-month program called In-Residence that looks to grow a quid pro quo relationship with startups and other young companies. As part of the program, startups will have access to the bank's proprietary technologies and data. Additionally the company touts its expertise in compliance, legal, and risk that will help startups both during the program and afterward. JPMorgan also says that startups that successfully complete the program will have continued support from the bank including the possibility of future funding. A website built for the In-Residence program gives even more details about the incubator. "In—Residence takes an open, transparent, and highly collaborative approach to develop solutions that will yield enduring value for the entire financial industry. We build partnerships with the best and brightest to co-create a highly specialized program to solve wholesale banking challenges during a six month residency," the site says. Interestingly, while the page says applications will be vetted in six weeks or less, it doesn't give many details about how to apply other than supplying an e-mail address. JPMorgan actually isn't the first bank to launch such a program for FinTech startups. The Britain-based bank Barclays has previously launched a series of accelerator programs in partnership with TechStars. This year those two companies held programs in New York, London, Tel Aviv, and Cape Town. Meanwhile other institutions have worked with FinTech firms in other ways. Last February BancAlliance announced a deal with Lending Club to provide community and smaller bank customers with personal loans. Additionally earlier this year JPMorgan actually launched a partnership with OnDeck Capital to offer online loans. Overall it's an interesting development that shows FinTech is still a hot space despite some recent setbacks. While it has yet to be seen what kind of companies JPMorgan's incubator produces or how hands-on the company will be with them after, their desire to look outside of their organization for new innovations shows that they're anxious to adapt to the changing financial landscape. Ultimately the In-Residence program poses no threat to FinTech but could prove to intimidate other big banks that choose not to follow JPMorgan's lead.

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