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JPMorgan Chase to cut 65 jobs in Tampa

 
Published March 30, 2015

TAMPA — JPMorgan Chase is getting out of the student loan business, a move that will throw 65 employees in Tampa out of work on May 25.

In a letter to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Chase said it will help those affected find other jobs within the company and may provide relocation assistance for certain positions.

Outplacement assistance and other severance-related benefits also will be offered to eligible employees, the letter said.

The bank announced in 2013 that it planned to close its Chase Student Lending subsidiary because of increased regulatory scrutiny and competition from federal programs.

"We just don't see this as a market that we can significantly grow,'' Thasunda Duckett, Chase's chief executive for auto and student loans, told Reuters at the time.

The federal government now issues the vast majority of student loans thanks to congressional action in 2010 that allowed it to bypass the banks and lend directly to students.

By the end of last year, Chase's portfolio of student loans stood at $9.4 billion, a 9 percent drop from the previous year and a tiny part of the mega-bank's total business.

Chase is most visible in the Tampa Bay area through its dozens of branches though it also has extensive back-office operations here. In 2013, as the housing market improved and demand for loan modifications waned, Chase laid off 435 workers in its Tampa mortgage banking unit. Some of those, however, found jobs in Chase's Tampa credit card and auto units.

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate