JPMorgan Card Spending Hits $539 Billion as Credit Improves

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Highlights

For CEO Jamie Dimon and his management team, both developments came with qualifications. Consumer trends’ health rests on the underpinnings of the labor market. JPMorgan is using AI agents internally, but Dimon said it will not give unvetted outside agents access to its systems.

Debit and credit card sales volume rose 10% from a year earlier to $539.5 billion, from $492.3 billion, as earnings materials showed. Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said spending continued to grow across categories including gas and travel.

Card borrowing also rose. Average Card Services loans were $250.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with $234.4 billion a year earlier and $243.5 billion in the second quarter.

Credit performance did not deteriorate alongside that growth. The Card Services net charge-off rate was 2.91%, compared with 3.15% a year earlier and 3.34% in the second quarter. JPMorgan continues to expect a full-year Card Services net charge-off rate of approximately 3.2%, according to management commentary on the Tuesday call after earnings were released.  Shares were up slightly at the start of trading.

Barnum said the labor market remains the principal support for household credit.

“The consumer remains currently healthy due to a strong labor market,” he told analysts. An extended period of rates high enough to restrain inflation, however, “could eventually increase unemployment and impact credit performance.”

JPMorgan also saw consumers keeping more money in the bank. Average Consumer & Community Banking deposits rose 4% year over year to $1.097 trillion. Barnum said yield-seeking flows had slowed and consumer deposit growth had resumed, supported by roughly 650,000 net new checking accounts during the quarter.

JPMorgan Sets Boundaries for Agentic AI

JPMorgan’s artificial intelligence deployment now extends beyond conventional generative AI tools.

Asked specifically about agentic AI, Dimon said, “Internally we use agents for positive outcomes and will continue doing so, but our primary focus is protecting the customer.” He cited “rogue agents, data misuse, and liability transfers” among the concerns surrounding autonomous agents.

His position on outside agents was explicit.

“We are building tools to protect customers and will not allow unvetted outside agents into our internal systems due to security risks,” Dimon said.

Barnum said AI investment is distributed across the company rather than accounted for as a single isolated expense, with productivity gains in software engineering and operations. Dimon said the bank also uses model-routing tools that direct AI queries to more cost-effective models to manage token costs.

The discussion of personal agents also touched on FinTech competition. Barnum described them as the intersection of two issues JPMorgan already faces: yield-seeking deposit flows and competition from FinTechs. He said the bank remains focused on winning customers’ primary banking relationships rather than trying to retain every dollar moving in search of higher yields, while maintaining competitive product features.

Barnum said JPMorgan blocks unapproved screen scraping and credential sharing to protect customer accounts. Dimon said the bank is developing tools to protect customers from risks involving outside agents, including data misuse and questions about liability.

Separately, in data that speaks to the scale of digital engagement with the bank, and by extension, engagement with AI, active mobile customers reached 64.9 million in the quarter, up 7% from 60.9 million a year earlier.