Five years after bringing its digital bank, Chase, to the UK, and six months after opening the doors of its Berlin headquarters JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) is finally preparing to launch the product in Europe, the Financial Times has reported.

Translating its digital bank to Europe was not as simple as replicating the steps taken to bring it to the UK, the paper reported. Turning Chase into a multi-country, multi-language and multi-currency platform required investments that are “always bigger and take a bit longer than investments required to enter subsequent markets from here,” Chase’s German retail banking head Daniel Llano Manibardo told the FT.

The platform had to be adapted to be compatible with EU-wide systems such as the Single Euro Payments Area network, and for quirks of the German financial system such as the deduction of church tax on interest income, according to reporting.

The German market is the largest in the Eurozone, but also one that is notoriously difficult to break into for international lenders. The likes of Citigroup, Santander and BNP Paribas have all failed to maintain savings products in the country, either pulling out entirely or focusing on more profitable niches such as car and consumer finance.

Chase’s offering will begin with just one product: an overnight savings account. This echoes the strategy used by Llano Manibardo’s previous employer, ING, which has managed to build the third-largest retail bank in the country.

JPMC intends to become a top five lender in all markets where it operates, the FT reported, suggesting it hopes to reach over 5 million customers in the German market. To do so, it expects to expand its product range over time to match that offered in the UK, including current accounts, credit cards and investments, the paper said.

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