American banking giant JPMorgan Chase is holding negotiations with U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to place ATMs in post office branches.

JPMorgan’s real estate team had initiated the talks with USPS as part of its efforts to offer ATM access at the latter’s premises, sources said.

JPMorgan spokeswoman Trish Wexler said: “There is no agreement in place and no imminent plans to move forward.

“We had very preliminary conversations with the US Postal Service several months ago about what it might look like to lease a small number of spaces to place ATMs to better serve some historically underserved communities.”

The successful deal will not only help the bank better serve specific communities at these locations but also provide a new revenue stream for the USPS.

However, a spokesperson for the postal service agency said that its “core function is to deliver mail, not banking services.”

In a statement, the spokesperson said: “To the extent, our research concludes that we can legally provide additional services at a profit and without distracting from our core business, we would consider these.

“However, public policy and regulatory discussions must be addressed before the Postal Service invests in an area outside our core function.”

USPS manages more than 31,000 post office locations across the US.

Last month, JPMorgan Chase Q220: beats forecasts, Dimon flags up the fortress balance sheet.