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Boston Globe

JPMorgan, Citizens duke it out over First Republic's old customer base

JPMorgan typically wields the Chase brand for its retail operations, but not for this venture. Instead, the signs out front say 'J.P. Morgan.' 'We're testing a new model, leveraging ... the JPMorgan brand,' said Stevie Baron, head of affluent banking at New York-based JPMorgan. 'This is an opportunity to take the JPMorgan brand to focus more up market [though] we've got inspiration from First Republic.' The personalized banking services are available to customers with at least $750,000 of deposits and investable assets parked with the bank. The freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that First Republic used to offer have been replaced by squares of Dylan's chocolate. (JPMorgan also has a previously established private banking arm for much wealthier individuals, but does not have a retail presence specifically for that group.) Advertisement JPMorgan's rollout comes as Citizens Financial Group steps up its efforts to cater to wealthy customers through its own relatively new Citizens Private Bank. Citizens was among the bidders for the failed First Republic in 2023, but lost to JPMorgan. However, at least 150 bankers from First Republic left later that year to help Citizens launch its private bank, including Susan deTray, a California-based executive who leads Citizens Private Bank. Advertisement 'We welcome all competition,' Baron said. 'We feel very good about our hand and our ability to serve this client base.' Last year, Citizens reopened a former First Republic branch in the Back Bay to serve as its first private banking office in Boston. (The chocolate chip cookies stayed on the menu there.) Offering a range of banking services to wealthy clients through Citizens Private Bank has turned a profit more quickly than chief executive Bruce Van Saun expected. The private bank, Van Saun said in an April interview, broke even in August, and now has four branches across the US with more on the way. The Providence-based company is opening its Private Bank branches in many of the same markets as JPMorgan; they have been a magnet for money, with nearly $9 billion in deposits and $5 billion in assets under management as of the end of March. The goal, Van Saun said, is to create a 'First Republic 2.0.' 'We're running a little ahead of what we projected,' Van Saun said. 'I think there's a void in the market where First Republic played and Silicon Valley [Bank] played. I think you win with talent. So a lot of the customers of those banks recognize that the personal level of service that the bankers offer was second to none, and Citizens is going to occupy that space.' This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene. Advertisement Jon Chesto can be reached at