FX168 Financial News (North America) A review of history shows that betting against J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon may not be the smartest idea, especially when it comes to banking. However, nearly 20 years ago, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates suggested that maybe it was time to start “bypassing” these financial institutions. It seems that Dimon hasn't forgotten this.
In the mid-1990s, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gates, who is currently worth $149 billion, didn't seem to take banks very seriously.
According to reports, he once said that banks are “dinosaurs” that can be circumvented, and added that while “banking is necessary, banks are not” (Banking is convenient, but banks are not.)
Such remarks caught the attention of Damon, who is now also a billionaire, who said he had a conversation with the founder of big tech in the late 1990s.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Damon said, “I remember” Gates' criticism of the industry and talked to him a few years later.
Damon said, “I talked to him about this in 1997. Obviously he's wrong — he'll probably agree to that.”
Technology changes everything
But Dimon agreed with Gates's broader view that “technology changes everything,” even if that doesn't mean banks are becoming redundant.
Dimon said, “If anyone is complacent, arrogant, or thinks that because you have a big place today, you'll have a big place tomorrow, that's wrong.”
But while technology like artificial intelligence may replace some human roles in the financial sector, Dimon said there will always be demand for banking in some form.
Damon asked, “What is a bank?” “Someone is going to have to keep the money. Someone is going to have to transfer money. Someone is going to have to raise money. Someone is going to have to do research around funding.”
“These services will still exist, and hopefully we can do this job better by using lots of technology.”
According to at least one index, J.P. Morgan's performance in integrating technologies such as artificial intelligence with everyday operations is definitely better than its peers.
Benchmark platform Delivers Insights assesses how prepared businesses are for the upcoming changes in artificial intelligence, and the platform's co-founder and CEO Alexandra Mousavizadeh (Alexandra Mousavizadeh) said Dimon's company is leading the way.
Musavizad said at the “Fortune” AI brainstorming conference in London this week that banks like J.P. Morgan and other North American institutions are now far ahead of their peers, and the question now is “can anyone catch up”.
The banking business of big tech companies
While Dimon's team of more than 240,000 employees may be bringing new approaches to their peers, there is also a new player entering the financial sector: big tech companies.
Although it is reported that Apple's recent partnership with Goldman Sachs to enter the consumer banking business is coming to an end, Dimon is closely monitoring such activities.
The CEO said that Apple's entry into finance currently does not pose an “existential threat” to J.P. Morgan Chase, but added: “If we are complacent about it, then yes.”
The CEO, who claims to be “wholehearted, red-blooded, patriotic, unawakened, capitalist,” also made it clear that he will not let emerging rivals easily gain market share from J.P. Morgan.
He said, “We'll compete, so they'll have a strong competitor, but they keep the money and transfer the money; they're a kind of competitor. We work with them too, but I'm very used to working and competing with many people.” Dimon added that Apple has the right to launch its own financial products, but he “opposes using their position to unfairly dominate the business.”