JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Quietly Brace for Customers’ Financial Fallout Amid Increasing Economic Uncertainty

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo are boosting their financial defenses, preparing for customers to increasingly lose the ability to pay their bills.

In their new Q2 2024 reports, the banks say they’re significantly increasing the amount of capital they’re holding to cover potential losses from credit card and loan insolvencies – collectively setting aside billions of dollars in emergency provisions.

JPMorgan Chase is leading the way, increasing its provisions from $1.88 billion in the first quarter of this year to $3.05 billion – a $1.17 billion jump.

Meanwhile, Bank of America has set aside $1.5 billion, up from $1.3 billion in the previous quarter, and Wells Fargo set aside $1.24 billion, up from $938 million in the previous quarter.

The increasing balances show banks are anticipating increasing economic risk in the months ahead as commercial real estate flounders and as consumers pile up a whopping $1.02 trillion in credit card balances, according to TransUnion.

Delinquency rates across various types of debt are already on the rise, and the New York Federal Reserve says total US household debt hit $17.69 trillion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of $184 billion from the previous quarter.

The number includes mortgage balances, which rose by $190 billion to $12.44 trillion, and auto loans, which increased by $9 billion to $1.62 trillion.

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