JPMorgan Chase card executive takes reins of branch banking

JPMorgan Chase's network of 5,200 branches has a new boss.

Pamela Codispoti — who joined the company in 2014 from American Express and was previously JPMorgan's head of branded cards — was named head of branch banking and wealth management in recent weeks, a company spokeswoman said Monday.

In her new role, Codispoti reports to Thasunda Duckett, JPMorgan’s head of consumer banking. Codispoti succeeds Erin Hill, who “left to pursue opportunities outside the firm,” the spokeswoman said. No additional details were provided.

Codispoti has been credited with creating the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the high-fee, benefits-heavy credit card that has proven to be popular with well-heeled millennials since its launch in August 2016.

Over the past year, senior JPMorgan executives have said the company is looking for new ways to cross-sell Sapphire Reserve customers on other retail banking products. To that end, the company earlier this year offered 100,000 rewards points to Sapphire Reserve customers who also took out a mortgage.

“Cross-selling done well is perfectly good for customers,” Gordon Smith, CEO of consumer and community banking, said during an industry conference in June.

The promotion is one of several personnel changes in JPMorgan’s retail unit. The company recently hired Matthew Massaua, an executive at Barclays, to oversee the Sapphire Reserve product, according to a report Monday in The Wall Street Journal. Massaua, who will start on Jan. 1, succeeds Lisa Walker, who will take on a new role in the card division.

Codispoti’s promotion was also reported by the Journal on Monday. She officially began her new role in October, but it had not been formally announced.