The bank said Friday that it will open a new "fintech campus" in Palo Alto in 2020. It will house more than 1,000 employees, consolidating the company's existing presence in the Bay Area.
The move signals JPMorgan's growing focus on digital payments. In 2017, the bank bought WePay, a payments company that competes with PayPal. Its 275 employees will move to the Palo Alto campus from Redwood City.
And it indicates a commitment to technology more broadly. Roughly 50,000 people at JPMorgan (JPM) work in tech. This year's budget for the division is $10.8 billion, with $5 billion set aside for new investments. That's up from $9.5 billion in 2017.
A bigger Bay Area location, which the company said will feature "a modern workplace design" and "state-of-the-art technology," could help JPMorgan compete with tech giants like Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB) for talent.
Banks have in recent years had to hire against tech companies that offer laid-back work environments and substantial pay, making Silicon Valley — and not Wall Street — the go-to spot for many young job recruits.
CEO Jamie Dimon has made clear he sees plenty to emulate in Silicon Valley. In the past, he's cited Amazon Prime as a great business model.
Under his leadership, the bank has started to build out its suite of online services.
It recently launched free online stock trading as it attempts to build deeper relationships with the 47 million customers at the bank who use mobile or online banking services. The platform, called You Invest, set up JPMorgan to compete with startups like Robinhood.
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