CV NEWS FEED // JPMorgan Chase has committed to honoring the free speech rights and religious liberty of its customers after legal nonprofit Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) spearheaded a campaign to protect bank accounts from religiously or politically motivated de-banking.
CatholicVote previously reported that over the last few years, Chase has on several occasions closed the bank accounts of religious organizations without warning. On at least one occasion, Chase demanded confidential internal information from a national religious organization to reopen the account.
To fight “de-banking,” ADF began a campaign that included developing the “Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index” to measure companies’ respect for free speech and religious freedom. ADF also began meeting with Chase leadership. The nonprofit gathered support from 19 state attorneys general and 14 state financial officers, who wrote to Chase expressing their concerns about de-banking.
“Our goal was to bring about meaningful change at Chase. And by God’s grace, we did,” ADF stated in a June 11 news release.
ADF continued:
By the fall of 2023, Chase’s payment processor WePay removed its problematic “social risk” policy, which had banned “hate” and “intolerance” and [had] been applied against conservative groups in the past.
ADF additionally reported that Chase’s 2023 Climate Report opened with the statement: “JPMorgan Chase & Co. provides financial services for individuals and industries across geographies — regardless of political, social, or religious viewpoints.”
In 2024, Chase met with ADF to commit “to ongoing engagement on how their company can protect free speech and religious liberty.”
“No American should have to worry that their bank will punish or cancel them for their views,” ADF concluded. “We have a long way to go in our efforts to guard against this threat, but the win at Chase is a timely reminder that while we may attempt great things for God, we can also expect great things from God.”
