Chase to Add Up to 30 Branches in Northern Calif.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is planning to open between 25 and 30 branches in Northern California this year as part of its ongoing quest to add market share in the nation's largest state.

The branch openings would be on top of the 29 the $2.3 billion-asset banking giant has opened in the San Francisco Bay area in 2011 and the dozens it has opened in California since it entered the state in late 2008 when it took over the failed Washington Mutual Bank. The Oakland Tribune reported Wednesday that the bank is eyeing expansion in counties throughout the Bay Area, where it ranks fourth in deposit share, behind Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc.

"When we look at our market share and the number of our branches, we definitely see room for expansion," Don Bausley, manager of the San Francisco and East Bay markets for JPMorgan Chase, told the Oakland Tribune.

JPMorgan Chase said the branch expansion would create between 250 and 300 jobs.

It is not just opening branches in its bid to gain market share. The bank announced in December that it would install roughly 600 automated teller machines in ampm convenience stores throughout California by the end of March. The additional ATMs would give JPMorgan Chase more than 4,000 in the state.