Chase Gives 'Banker's Hours' a Customer-Friendly Makeover; Manhattan Branches Now Open 10 Hours a Day.

NEW YORK -- Chase, the consumer and commercial brand of JPMorgan Chase & Co, has expanded its banking hours again, giving New Yorkers time to bank on their way to work, on the way home and in between.

"We've wanted to make sure there were enough banking hours in the day for our branch customers," said John Quinn, head of Retail Banking in the Tri-State area for Chase. "So we are opening at 8 a.m. at all of our Manhattan branches and keeping them open 10 hours each weekday, giving 'bankers' hours' a customer-friendly makeover."

The majority of branches in the other boroughs are now open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each weekday. Most branches that have Saturday hours will be open until 3 p.m.

As a result, Manhattan branches are open an average of six more hours per week - or the equivalent of almost a full workday -- and borough branches an average of four extra hours per week.

This is second time in as less than a year that Chase has increased its branch hours to better serve customers. In July 2004, Chase began extending its closing time in branches across the New York area.

"We have 20 percent more branch hours across the New York area than we did just a year ago," Quinn said.

The extended branch hours are just the latest in series of improvements Chase is making made to serve customers better in the New York area. They include:

--Making ATMs at all 246 Duane Reade drugstores free for Chase customers. That increases the total of free Chase ATMs to 1,600 in the Tri-State area.

--Extending the cutoff time by two hours, to 6 p.m., for branch payments for Chase credit cards, auto loans and mortgages to get same-day credit and for branch deposits to be credited the next business day.

--Opening 50 Tri-State area bank branches, including 20 in New York City.

--Planning for at least 100 more branches in the Tri-State area by the end of next year.

--Beginning to refurbish all branches across the Tri-State market.

--Offering attractive promotions, including Target gift cards and iPods to reward customers by starting or expanding relationships with Chase.

Chase's Tri-State customers also enjoy the following benefits of Maximum Strength Checking:

--More than 420 branches

--More than 1,200 personal bankers

--Free checking with direct deposit

--Free online banking

--No debit card fees for purchases.

In addition, customers can use any of more than 6,900 Chase or Bank One ATMs in 18 states to withdraw cash, transfer funds and check account balances without a usage fee. That is the result of the 2004 merger of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.2 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and businesses, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has its corporate headquarters in New York and its U.S. consumer and commercial banking headquarters in Chicago. Under the JPMorgan, Chase and Bank One brands, the firm serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.