Dimon, Moynihan say they don’t debank

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan visited Capitol Hill on Thursday morning to meet with GOP senators on the contentious topic of debanking – the controversial practice of denying banking services to customers tied to industries or causes deemed politically insensitive.

Dimon and Moynihan – along with the CEOs of Capital One, Truist, Wells Fargo, PNC and U.S. Bancorp – met with Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee to discuss debanking, an issue that conservatives allege disproportionately targets them. 

Asked by FOX Business after the meeting whether Bank of America had ever debanked a client, Moynihan responded: “We have 70 million customers, and we’re happy to serve anyone.” 

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The issue of debanking emerged as a hot-button issue after President Donald Trump criticized Moynihan during his remote address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, claiming that Bank of America, as well as JPMorgan Chase, have been restricting banking access to conservatives.

“They don’t take conservative business, and I don’t know if the regulators mandated that because of Biden or what, but you and Jamie [Dimon] and everybody, I hope you open your banks to conservatives because what you’re doing is wrong.”

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan speaks during “Mornings With Maria” at FOX Business Network studios on July 27, 2023. (John Lamparski / Getty Images)

Moynihan declined comment when asked about those particular allegations by Trump, saying: “You’d have to talk to him about that,” adding he would not be meeting with Trump during his visit to Washington.

Another major participant in the meeting, Dimon, had more to say on the issue, stating the meeting was “excellent.” 

“I think it’s very good that people are sitting down and talking about how we can make the country better,” Dimon told FOX Business about the roundtable. 

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When asked whether JPMorgan had ever specifically engaged in the practice of debanking due to political beliefs, Dimon said it doesn’t happen. 

“We don’t debank people because of political or religious affiliations, but there are a lot of things that can be fixed. We should fix them. The rules and requirements are so onerous, and it does cause people to be debanked, in my opinion, who should not be debanked,” the longtime JPMorgan CEO said. 

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks during an Economic Club of New York event on April 23, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Asked in a follow-up if he was blaming banking regulators primarily for issues surrounding debanking, Dimon said, “Pretty much, yeah.” 

The visit from the bank executives comes as new Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., has prioritized transparency surrounding debanking. 

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Scott led the Senate Banking Committee in hearing from witnesses last week who had been debanked, including former U.S. Army Green Beret Evan Hafer, the founder of veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee.

Scott called Thursday’s roundtable “constructive,” and said in a statement that Congress needs to “right-size the impacts of the Biden administration’s burdensome and arbitrary regulations.”

“The debanking of Americans should concern everyone – law-abiding citizens and federally legal businesses deserve access to financial services – regardless of industry or political affiliation,” Scott said. “My message is clear: no regulator, and no financial institution, is above the principles of fairness and market access.”