Bank of America vs J.P. Morgan Chase
Bank of America and J. P. Morgan Chase are two giant financial corporations in the United States having business worldwide. In the world of banking, these two companies are considered to be heavyweights with billions of dollars worth of financial transactions. There are many similarities between the two financial corporations. This article intends to highlight the difference between Bank of America and J. P. Morgan Chase.
Bank of America
It is the 2nd largest bank in US in terms of market capitalization having relations with nearly all Fortune 500 US companies. Among all the companies, Bank of America is the 5th largest in the US, and 2nd largest non oil company after Wal-Mart. The bank acquired Merrill Lynch in 2008 and became world’s largest wealth manager. The bank not only provides all types of banking services to the public but is also a huge investment company. It holds more than 12% of all US deposits and is among the big four banks in the US along with J. P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo.
J. P. Morgan Chase
It is a large financial corporation involved in securities, retail banking and investment banking. It is the 3rd largest bank in US after Bank of America and Wells Fargo. The hedge fund being operated by the company is the biggest hedge fund in the country with assets worth more than $54 billion. It was known as J. P. Morgan and co. till 2000, but after the acquisition of Chase Manhattan Corporation in 2000, the company’s name changed to J. P. Morgan Chase. Interestingly, the bank uses the name Chase for credit card services and retail banking in the country. While the corporate headquarters of the company are in New York, its retail bank headquarters are in Chicago.
Difference between Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase
Talking of differences, while Bank of America is primarily a bank operating in other financial services, J. P. Morgan is an investment firm also operating as a bank. It has offices in more than 60 countries of the world. In terms of market capitalization, J. P. Morgan Chase is the largest financial organization in the world with an asset base of more than $2 trillion.
Both bank of America and J. P. Morgan Chase have had their share of controversies. While BOA got a bad name when it suddenly raised interest rates for many of its customers which included even those who had a good credit history. This move created a furor and faced mush criticism from all quarters. J. P. Morgan Chase got involved in sales that nearly brought bankruptcy to a county in Alabama. The case went to US Securities and Exchange Commission where the company lost and had to pay fines of nearly $722 million.