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Affirm teams up with JPMorgan to expand BNPL reach: The partnership will help the fintech keep pace with Klarna and capitalize on growing demand for flexible payment options.

The news: JPMorgan and Wells Fargo kicked off the Q1 earnings season with some better-than-expected results but also took steps to prepare for a deeper economic slowdown. JPMorgan beat revenue expectations with $46.01 billion, per CNBC. Wells Fargo revenues fell 3% to $20.15 billion, but per-share profit of $1.33 beat expectations.

Both JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley reported record equity trade revenue, and Bank of America and Citigroup reported trade revenue surges, thanks to strong market activity early in the year. Wells Fargo reported higher revenue from client fees, fueling its profit growth. JPMorgan reported higher investment banking fees, but Goldman Sachs reported lower investment banking fees for the quarter.

We will be closely watching issuers鈥� Q1 earnings, starting with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on April 11, to assess the impact on issuers moving forward.

In February, it partnered with JPMorgan Payments, making the BNPL option available to merchants using JPMorgan鈥檚 Commerce Solutions Platform. And in January, Klarna expanded its distribution partnership with Stripe across 26 countries. Our take: While current market volatility could delay Klarna鈥檚 public debut, the BNPL provider is setting itself up for a strong listing and volume growth.

What it means for Klarna: The BNPL firm has made multiple partnerships to expand its merchant acceptance ahead of its now-delayed IPO: including with Walmart鈥檚 OnePay, DoorDash, JPMorgan Payments, and Stripe. Partnering with Clover will help it to make in-store inroads, which has eluded most BNPL players.

But Klarna鈥檚 recent moves like its Walmart and JPMorgan Payments tie-ups can help it maintain its growth as it figures out what鈥檚 next for its IPO.

How we got here: At a recent company town hall, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon provided context into the bank鈥檚 direction. While he restated the bank鈥檚 longtime commitment to Black, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities, he said JPMorgan planned to cut wasteful spending on some initiatives that 鈥渨ent too far,鈥� per Bloomberg.

It has reportedly entered discussions with a wide range of potential partners including Capital One, American Express, JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and Synchrony. And now, a new dynamic is shaking up this fight, with the network relationship also up for grabs. The bigger picture: The Apple Card will come with a string of hurdles for its new partners.

And while JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was initially optimistic about tariffs and their ability to boost US manufacturing, he鈥檚 since changed his tune鈥攍ikely because the tariffs are much more severe than anyone imagined, per CNN. In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon expressed concern about 鈥渄amaging trade practices,鈥� US isolationism, and the 鈥済reater probability of a recession.鈥�.

JPMorgan Chase uses genAI to customize Chase Offers, for example. And American Express told 蘑菇AV it expanded its rewards program by working with a large grocery retailer to target frequent but not loyal customers, offering discounts to make consumers shop there more often and build larger baskets.

For example, Affirm expanded its tie-up with Shopify in the UK and Canada, and Klarna partnered with Worldpay, JPMorgan Payments, and Adobe Commerce. Both firms have also partnered with Apple Pay and Google Pay. But individual partnerships are still important if BNPL players want to reach larger merchants like Stitch Fix.

The news: United Airlines and JPMorgan Chase revamped their co-brand credit card program, rolling out new benefits along with higher annual fees, per a press release. This includes the Club, Gateway, Quest, and Explorer credit cards, as well as its two business cards. The new benefits take effect immediately for new and existing cardholders.

JPMorgan Chase is the largest US bank by assets, according to the latest release from The Federal Reserve Board. Here is the full list of the top 10 banks in the US, ranked by assets as of December 31, 2024. 1. JPMorgan Chase Bank 鈥� $3.46 trillion. JPMorgan Chase Bank, headquartered in Columbus, OH, remains America's largest bank with consolidated assets of $3.46 trillion.

And PayPal鈥檚 Fastlane is also expanding to the UK and other European markets through a partnership with JPMorgan Payments. The bigger picture: PayPal forecasts strong growth in the next few years thanks to these initiatives. It projected that the annual growth rate for branded checkout volume will be between 8% and 10% YoY in 2027, up from 6% YoY in 2024.

JPMorgan Chase. Marriott Bonvoy. Morningstar. MMYG Travel Intelligence. NerdWallet. OAG. PYMNTS. Reuters. Seeking Alpha. Skift. Southwest Airlines. TD Securities. View from the Wing. Wall Street Journal. Yahoo Finance.

Brush up on what mass affluent customers are looking for by reading our article 鈥淛笔惭辞谤驳补苍 seeks to attract mass affluent customers with high-end financial center experiences鈥� next.

Capital One integrates cafes for casual financial advice, JPMorgan hosts nonprofit workshops in its 鈥渃ommunity centers,鈥� and Bank of America incorporates local culture into branch designs like its art-filled Williamsburg, Brooklyn location. Investing in community engagement. Banks are deepening their connection to local communities.