American financial holding JPMorgan Chase & Co. has announced it will purchase British financial services firm Nutmeg Saving and Investment Ltd, which specializes in online services, as part of plan to enter the UK retail banking market, Finmarket.ru reports.

The price of the deal has not been disclosed, but sources say it is in the range of GBP 500 million to GBP 1 billion, writes The Wall Street Journal.

This January, JPMorgan announced it would to launch a digital bank in the UK to offer services to the public. The bank, Chase, is currently undergoing internal testing with JPMorgan staff ahead of its official launch later this year.



Nutmeg, founded in 2012, serves over 140,000 customers and manages GBP 3.5 billion (about USD 5 billion).

Digital banking in the UK has boomed in recent years as regulatory bodies encouraged new startups including Starling Bank Ltd. and Monzo Bank Ltd. in order to increase competition in banking in the wake of the recent global financial crisis.

Sources say last year JPMorgan considered buying Starling Bank, which was set up in 2014.

JPMorgan previously tried to launch a digital bank in the U.S. cities and markets where it had no branches, but a project called Finn was closed in June 2019 due to weak demand.

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