JPMorgan Chase exceeded profit expectations in its third-quarter earnings call this week, progress that aligns with a wider economic recovery. As it improves its financial position, the bank signaled that acquisitions will continue.

Why should we care?
JPMorgan Chase made a string of significant recent acquisitions this year: environmental, social, and governance tech platform OpenInvest in June; The Infatuation, a restaurant-recommendation website in September; and Frank, a college planning platform, also last month. During the earnings call, the bank suggested that the wave of acquisitions is far from over. Analysts asked CEO Jamie Dimon about the looming threat from fintech, to which he responded that getting ahead in the “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) space is a priority. “We will spend whatever we have to spend to compete with all these folks in our space," he said, referring to the rise of BNPL companies. The company’s chief financial officer Jeremy Barnum echoed Dimon’s reference to BNPL as a growth area. “For any given thing that's emerging, you can easily convince yourself that it's kind of not a threat. It's funny how layaway is back in the e-commerce checkout lane," he said, noting that the bank is taking fintech disruption seriously. His focus on fintech echoed Dimon’s comments early this year when he said the bank should be “scared shitless” about fintech’s growth trajectory.