Most Powerful Women in Banking: No. 10, JPMorgan Chase's Thasunda Duckett

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CEO, Chase Consumer Banking, JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase is expanding its retail bank — and Thasunda Duckett is leading the charge.

JPMorgan announced earlier this year that it would open as many as 400 new branches in major cities along the East Coast and the mid-Atlantic region. In April, the New York company announced Washington, D.C., as its first major expansion market along the way.

Duckett played a key role in the Washington announcement. Most notably, she led a roundtable discussion with local nonprofit leaders, during which she encouraged them to share ideas about how the new branches could best serve the community.

Since taking over her current role two years ago, Duckett has overseen strong deposit growth. In 2017, average consumer deposits reached an all-time high, growing 7% from a year earlier, to $511 billion. The company, meanwhile, gained deposit market share in 48 of its 50 largest markets.

In January, Duckett launched JPMorgan’s first-ever National Savings Week, a campaign designed to encourage employees and customers to sock away cash for their financial goals. Additionally, she has created a new division focused on developing innovative products and services to help customers stay on top of their finances.

It’s an issue that’s personal for Duckett.

“I come from modest beginnings, and know the importance of financial health,” she said. “My parents instilled in me that it’s not about what you make, but what you keep.”

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Duckett recently told the story of her ascent at JPMorgan to promote diversity in the banking industry. Speaking at an awards dinner in May for the Women’s Bond Club, she pointed to generations of African-American workers who held low-level jobs because they were discriminated against in the workplace.

“When I’m on the 50^th floor at 270 Park Avenue, and I see the history of the bank displayed going back to Rockefeller, I think, ‘There’s no way he could have imagined me,’ ” Duckett said, as the audience erupted in applause. “You see, I am on the shoulders of giants. I am my ancestors’ wildest dreams.”