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Chase Bank, in hot pursuit of Sunshine State customers since fall 2009, celebrated a major milestone in Florida last week with the opening of its 100th Gulf Coast branch.
The newest Chase location is at Howard and Swann avenues in Tampa, near Hyde Park. The branch, says a Chase spokeswoman, is built with an open-space, sleek, modern look and it utilizes new technology, like self-serve and paperless tellers. Most of the other Chase branches in Florida use that model, too.
The branch, and the other 99 Chase locations spread from Tampa to Naples, also represents a four-year commitment to Florida that, so far, exceeds $300 million. George Acevedo, head of retail for Chase in the Southeast, which includes Florida and Atlanta, says the bank's financial commitment to the state is one of its largest in any market nationwide.
Chase, a subsidiary of New York-based JP Morgan Chase, had six branches in Florida in 2008. In 2009 it bought Washington Mutual, which failed, and that gave Chase about 200 branches statewide. The bank has since opened more than 100 other offices across the state; some were new construction, others were buildings converted from previous uses.
Chase now has 352 branches in Florida — and Acevedo says it isn't done. Jacksonville, where it only has one office, is high on the “next” list, he says, and so too are more branches for Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa. “We know we are not where we need to be,” Acevedo tells Coffee Talk. “We still have a few more to add.”
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