By Dave Sebastian

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it is launching a digital consumer bank in the U.K. under the Chase brand in coming months, a move the bank said would be its first entry into the British retail-banking market.

The company said it tapped Sanoke Viswanathan, previously the administrative chief and head of strategy at its corporate and investment bank, as the chief executive of the digital bank. The new unit is headquartered in London, with a customer contact center in Edinburgh, the company said Wednesday.

The digital bank has already hired 400 people in the country and plans to add more as it grows, the company said.

"The U.K. has a vibrant and highly competitive consumer banking marketplace, which is why we've designed the bank from scratch to specifically meet the needs of customers here," said Gordon Smith, chief executive of consumer and community banking and co-president of JPMorgan Chase.

In the U.S., Chase has about 55 million digitally active customers, the company said.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-27-21 0744ET