JPMorgan Chase has told staff to hand over their biometric data if they want to enter the bank’s new multi-billion-dollar headquarters, despite previously telling them it was optional.
Employees at the company’s new fortress-like skyscraper in the heart of Manhattan were told that their biometric data was “required” to enter the building going forward, overriding a previous mandate that said enrollment in the program was voluntary.
Although a select few staff will still be able to use ID cards to enter the lobby, the vast majority of the 10,000 employees expected to work at the 270 Park Avenue skyscraper once it fully opens later this year will need to scan their eyes and fingerprints every time they enter the building.
The move comes amidst heightened security concerns in corporate offices across New York, following the deadly shooting at a Manhattan skyscraper in July, which killed four people, and the highly-publicized killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December.
Security experts note that while biometric technology is not new, its deployment for general employee access in a commercial high-rise on this scale is a notable and unprecedented step.
“It’s a very effective way to make sure that the people entering your facility are exactly who they’re supposed to be,” Dave Komendat, chief security officer at Corporate Security Advisors and a former security executive at Boeing, told the Financial Times.
While biometrics have been used for decades in high-security areas, such as government buildings and data centers, he explained, implementing them for thousands of employees in a commercial headquarters signifies a new level of adoption and a statement of intent from the bank as it seeks to reassert its dominance over Wall Street.
Announced in 2018, the construction of 270 Park Avenue involved demolishing the previous building, which had become too small for the bank’s growing corporate and investment banking staff. The new, 2.5-million-square-foot steel and glass structure in the heart of Manhattan has been described by CEO Jamie Dimon as a “beautiful physical manifestation” of the company, and it is widely seen within the bank as a “monument” to his tenure.
Unveiling the project, New York Mayor Eric Adams likened its construction to a “1932 moment,” drawing parallels to the construction of the Empire State Building in the aftermath of the Great Depression.
The new headquarters is part of a broader overhaul of JPMorgan’s New York footprint, which has also seen the bank renovate its offices at 383 Madison Avenue and consider adding hotel rooms for visiting employees at the newly acquired 250 Park Avenue building it purchased last year.
JPMorgan declined to comment on the changes to its biometrics policy, the FT reports. For now, the headquarters at 270 Park Avenue is the only property in the bank’s portfolio that requires mandatory biometric scans to enter.
