JPMorgan Chase said today it'll open 160+ new U.S. branches in 30+ states in 2026 and renovate another 600 as part of a multibillion-dollar investment, Axios' Nathan Bomey reports.

• Why it matters: While few people visit tellers to grab cash anymore, brick-and-mortar branches are still a critical link between customers and banks. And banks value the visibility in neighborhoods and in business centers.

Bank of America has opened new locations in Denver, Philadelphia and elsewhere, the Financial Times notes.

• Bank of America said in May that it'll open 150+ financial centers across 60 markets by the end of 2027, and has invested $5 billion in its financial centers network over the past decade, opening new locations and renovating existing centers.

🏦 Chase's plan is part of a broader effort, announced in 2024, to open 500 new branches and renovate 1,700 more within three years.

• The expansion includes new branches in low-to-moderate-income and rural communities, and "fast-growing regions across the Northeast, Southeast, Heartland and Southwest," Chase said.

📱 The big picture: Banks have been steadily closing branches for more than a decade as mobile banking has surged.

• 📉 The number of branches per American has fallen by nearly 30% since peaking in 2009, per federal data.
• Banks closed 264 branches in the first half of 2025 alone, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Between the lines: Research suggests that physical banks still matter to customers, even as they do more of their banking online.

• 64% of customers "still rely on branches for conflict resolution when they can't find a way to resolve an issue online," a 2025 Accenture study found.
• Plus, 65% "still see branches as symbols of stability, a sentiment that spans generations."

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The share of U.S. adults 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher rose from about 34% to 38% between the 2015–2019 and 2020–2024 periods, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Jacque Schrag report from new census data.

• 📈 The biggest gains among the 100 largest metro areas: Durham, N.C. (53%, up from 45%); New Haven, Conn. (42%, up from 35%); and Austin (51%, up from 45%).
• Springfield, Mass., was the only metro with a decrease, dropping from about 33% to 29%.

📊 How it works: That's based on the Census Bureau's latest five-year American Community Survey estimates.

• 🚚 A given metro's share can increase if more residents get degrees, or if more people with degrees move into town.

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1. 🥇 Team USA skier Mikaela Shiffrin ended her eight-year Olympic medal drought in dominant fashion today, winning gold in women's slalom by a massive (really!) 1.50 seconds. Go deeper.
2. 💸 The authors of a New York Fed study finding that Americans pay for tariffs should be disciplined, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNBC. "It's ... the worst paper I've ever seen in the history of the Federal Reserve System," he said. Watch.
3. 🏥 NIH director Jay Bhattacharya will also become acting CDC director as the Trump administration shakes up its senior health leadership, Axios' Caitlin Owens and Peter Sullivan report.
4. 🌴 Data giant Palantir is moving to Miami after six years in Denver — the latest example of Big Tech firms relocating to lower-tax, GOP-led states. Go deeper.

A federal judge added a little sauce while dismissing a lawsuit over Buffalo Wild Wings' boneless chicken wings, Axios Chicago's Justin Kaufmann reports.

• 🦴 Plaintiff Aimen Halim said he was misled by the term "boneless wings," thinking he was buying deboned wings rather than nuggets.
• 🐓 U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp of Northern Illinois ruled in favor of BWW — adding lots of chicken-based puns.

👨‍⚖️ A few nuggets from Tharp's decision:

• "What's in a name? If we called a wing by any other name, would it smell as sweet?"
• "Halim sued BWW over his confusion, but his complaint has no meat on its bones."
• "Despite his best efforts, Halim did not 'drum' up enough factual allegations to state a claim."

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