JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony this fall for the opening of a new kind of branch in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Though the most successful banker in America doesn't attend many branch openings, Dimon made a point to stop by this one as part of JP Morgan's broader push to help those in lower income neighborhoods build wealth.
Banks have long been obliged by federal law to open locations in low-income neighborhoods. But these branches, called community centers, take a more hands-on approach, teaching residents how to build credit, take out loans and become the kinds of customers that help the bank turn a profit. If not for the sounds of ATMs dinging in the background, the branches' auditorium-style classes would feel more like startup incubators than banks.
