Spencer Platt/Getty Images
JPMorgan has always been big on tech — an initiative on full display at its new Manhattan headquarters.
America’s biggest bank by assets has been promising that its new office tower at 270 Park Avenue will be loaded with “intelligent technology” since it announced the project in 2022. New details of the $3 billion project obtained by Business Insider reveal just how tech-forward the building will be.
The 14,000 employees who will be housed at the New York tower will be able to activate coffee machines using QR codes and swipe into the building using biometric palm scanners. Want to preorder food from the dining hall, host a guest, or find a specific conference room? There’s an app for that, which JPMorgan is asking employees to download to “boost your work efficiency.”
The details, gleaned from internal communications shared with Business Insider, offer a glimpse of what it’s like to work at the bank behemoth, which earlier this year called back all of its more than 300,000 employees to the office five days a week. JPMorgan has also been spending billions on tech at the direction of CEO Jamie Dimon, who has been seeking to protect the bank from payment apps and other financial startups.
“We have to compete with the best in AI and technology,” Jamie Dimon said at the bank’s 2024 Investor Day.
With some employees’ move-in set to start this year and continue into 2026, here’s the lowdown on how the bank plans to use tech to keep workers happy and efficient as it calls them back to the office five days a week.
dbox / Foster + Partners
Biometric scanners
Even the way you enter the building will be leveled up using tech. One option to get past the turnstiles — besides your physical or mobile JPM badge — is “biometric authentication,” which employees can already enroll in, according to employee communications shared on an internal bank portal.
The bank showed a photo of a scanner that reads your palm. It said the biometric authentication will allow employees to “breeze from the lobby” to other parts of the building “by waving your hand!”
It touted how easy it will be to get where you want to go.
“After passing through the turnstiles, you can take an elevator to The Exchange on 14. From there, you can go up to your floor or take the escalator down to 13 for a bite to eat,” the bank said, adding, “If you’re a trader, you can take an elevator directly to the trading floors from the lobby.”
JPMC app
The bank has a mobile app they call “Work at JPMC” to help employees with the move and to sign up for things like bike storage. It also has maps of the office to help people figure out what is where, and stores a digital version of your work badge.
“You can pre-order from several offerings in The Exchange, as well as coffee bars throughout the building, using the Work at JPMC mobile app.”
Foster + Partners
Self-locking bathrooms
The communications, which come just weeks after a tragic shooting at another Park Avenue office tower, suggest the bank plans to lean on tech to bolster building security.
One example: primary bathrooms on each floor will have emergency locks that, when activated, alert building security, according to the portal.
Under its emergency information, the bank says “primary bathrooms on each floor are equipped with an emergency lock that, when used, will alert building security. Security will assess the situation and respond, as appropriate.”
Coffee on demand
The internal portal reveals just how much coffee is part of the JPM work culture. In addition to having four cafes in the building and “work cafes” on every floor, break rooms will have coffee machines “powered by QR codes” — symbols that open up apps or webpages when viewed through one’s phone camera.
Circadian rhythm lighting
Being in an office building all day can take its toll on the body and the mind. The communications reviewed by Business Insider show that JPMorgan will use tech to try and make the office experience more natural.
In addition to windows that will allow 30% more daylight than a typical office building, the bank said the tower will have “circadian lighting and design elements” that incorporate nature and “help reduce sensory overload.”
The post Biometric scanners, circadian lighting, and lattes on demand: How tech is shaping JPMorgan’s new HQ appeared first on Business Insider.
