JPMorgan Chase begins WaMu takeover

Washington Mutual customers, who have been left in the dark about the thrift's seizure and closure by WaMu's own leadership, are finally getting some answers about what they can expect in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

An update to WaMu's homepage posted early on Friday, September 26th, read:

WaMu Customers
Welcome to JPMorgan Chase

The text linked to a page on Chase's website, which added:

We're proud to welcome you to one of the nation's largest banks; as of September 25, 2008, JPMorgan Chase & Co. has acquired the deposits, loans, and branches of Washington Mutual. Your deposits remain insured by the FDIC and are now also backed by the strength and security of JPMorgan Chase. Our combined company will offer superior banking convenience - over 5,400 branches and 14,000 ATMs in 23 states. Here's what this means for you:

The ensuing table attempts to answer the questions "what stays the same" and "what will change". Chase made it plainly clear that the Washington Mutual name and brand will be history before too long:

• You'll begin to see the Chase name on your statements, online, and on your credit cards as they reissue.
• Your branch will be re-named Chase and you'll be re-issued new debit cards with the Chase name. Until then, bank as you do today.
• As our systems merge, you'll be able to use any of the Chase branches nationwide. This won't take place this year, and we'll let you know well in advance of any changes.

Yesterday, ironically, was Washington Mutual's one hundred and nineteenth birthday. It was also its last.

It is a disappointing, grim development for the Pacific Northwest, and for Washington State and the City of Seattle in particular.

Jon Talton, writing for the Seattle Times, calls WaMu's failure "devastating":

With JPMorgan Chase's acquisition of Washington Mutual — nuptials probably performed at the end of a shotgun held by panicked regulators — Seattle will no longer be a major banking center. It will be a market, one of hundreds in the JPMorgan Chase empire.

He added:

The entirely predictable consequence of this deal for Seattle will be the loss of thousands of well-paid jobs, hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space emptied out, and a serious downshifting of local giving. It's through such bloodletting that the numbers make sense for these mergers.

We at the Northwest Progressive Institute are saddened by the painful and sudden end of one of Seattle's oldest and most important companies. Although most of us at NPI do our own personal banking with a local credit union, WaMu had such a big presence here that it was impossible not to feel connected to it in some way.

We extend our sympathies to WaMu employees and stockholders this morning and wish them the best on what will undoubtedly be a very difficult day.