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Wells Fargo & Co.
Type Public (NYSE: WFC)
Founded New York, New York, USA (March 18, 1852)
Headquarters San Francisco, California
Key people Richard Kovacevich,
Chairman
John Stumpf,
President and CEO
Products Retail Banking
Insurance
Payday advance
Mortgages
Consumer Finance
Corporate and Investment Banking
Revenue ▲US $39. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. The City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1852 ( MDCCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Richard "Dick" Kovacevich (October 30 1943-) is the chairman of the board of directors of Wells Fargo & Company. John G Stumpf is president and chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Company. President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need Retail banking refers to banking in which Banking institutions execute transactions directly with consumers rather than corporations or other banks Insurance, in Law and Economics, is a form of Risk management primarily used to hedge against the Risk of a contingent loss A payday loan (also called a paycheck advance or payday advance) is a small short-term Loan that is intended to cover a borrower's expenses until A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a Lender as a security for a Mortgage loan. Consumer finance in the most basic sense of the word refers to any kind of lending to consumers In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 390 billion (2007)
Net income ▲$8. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. 057 billion USD (2007)
Employees 160,000(2007)
Website www.wellsfargo.com
An older Wells Fargo branch, located in Berkeley, CA
An older Wells Fargo branch, located in Berkeley, CA
Wells Fargo's corporate headquarters in San Francisco, CA
Wells Fargo's corporate headquarters in San Francisco, CA

Wells Fargo & Co. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified financial services company in the United States with operations around the world. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Wells Fargo is the 5th largest bank in the US by assets and the 9th largest bank in the world by market cap. [1] It is the only bank in the United States to be rated AAA by S&P. Standard & Poor's ( S&P) is a division of McGraw-Hill that publishes financial research and analysison Stocks and bonds. [2]

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Wells Fargo is a result of an acquisition of California-based Wells Fargo & Co. by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. This article outlines the History of Wells Fargo & Company from its origins to its merger with Norwest and beyond This article details the history of Norwest up to the point of the purchase of Wells Fargo [3] The new company chose to keep the name Wells Fargo, to capitalize on the long history of the nationally-recognized Wells Fargo name and its trademark stagecoach (the company's slogan, "The Next Stage," is a nod to the company's wagons-west motif). For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed After the acquisition, the parent company moved its headquarters to San Francisco.

As of 3Q07, Wells Fargo has 5,928 retail branches (stores), over 23 million customers, and 160,000 employees.

Contents

Lines of business

Wells Fargo offers a range of financial services in over 80 different business lines. [4] In addition, the company claims to be one of the most "integrated" of financial services companies. For example, Wells Fargo investment employees sit in retail locations.

Wells Fargo delineates three different business segments when reporting results: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Consumer Finance. Retail banking refers to banking in which Banking institutions execute transactions directly with consumers rather than corporations or other banks Wholesale banking is the provision of services by banks to the like of large corporate clients mid-sized companies real estate developers and investors international trade financebusinesses Consumer finance in the most basic sense of the word refers to any kind of lending to consumers This is unlike many other financial services companies which provide more detail about particular businesses or product lines.

Community banking

The Community Banking segment includes Regional Banking, Wealth Management Group, Diversified Products and the Consumer Deposits groups. Wells Fargo consumer clients are encouraged to purchase multiple-product packages offering preferred client discounts. Examples of such packages are:

Wells Fargo also has around 9,400 stand alone mortgage branches throughout the country. It also does mortgage wholesale lending through independent mortgage brokers. A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who sells Mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses

Internet services

Wells Fargo launched its PC banking service in 1989 and was the first bank to introduce access to banking accounts on the web in May 1995. The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked Hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Using Wells Fargo's Online Banking, consumers can pay bills to anyone in the U. Online banking (or Internet banking) allows customers to conduct financial transactions on a secure website operated by their retail or virtual Bank, S. , trade securities, view their account information, and transfer money between their Wells Fargo accounts or to other Wells Fargo account holders. In addition to banking and trading online, the online service lets customers apply for new accounts and products, find the nearest ATM or store/branch, change their address, view canceled checks, deposits and statements, enroll in account alerts, track their spending habits through Wells Fargo's "My Spending Report" and set and track savings goals with "My Savings Plan". To protect customers from fraud, Wells Fargo introduced e-mail sent to your online banking or personal e-mail and send wireless alerts if high-risk transactions are detected.

Wells Fargo's Business Online Banking gives small business owners all the services available to consumers, plus access to reporting tools and services to help them manage their business finances. New offerings, such as account-based alerts, check images, spending reports, delegation, and payment suite functionality have been designed specifically for businesses.

Wells Fargo has also released a virtual community called "Stagecoach Island" This online community appears to be very similar to the wildly popular "Second Life" produced by Linden Lab; however no mention of Second Life is made on the Stagecoach island website. Second Life ( abbreviated as SL) and its sister site Teen Second Life are Internet-based 3D Virtual Linden Lab is a privately held American Internet company that is best known as the creator of Second Life and the Virtual world platform Second Life Grid

Wholesale

The Wholesale Banking segment contains products sold to large and middle market commercial companies, as well as to consumers on a wholesale basis. This includes lending, treasury management, mutual funds, asset-based lending, commercial real estate,corporate and institutional trust services, and investment banking through Wells Fargo Capital Management. Treasury management (or treasury operations) includes Management of an enterprise' holdings in and trading in government and Corporate bonds A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investments that pools money from many investors and Invests it in Stocks bonds, Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United Kingdom Investment banks profit from companies and governments by raising money through issuing and selling Securities in the Capital markets (both equity and Wells Fargo historically has avoided large corporate loans as stand-alone products, instead requiring that borrowers purchase other products along with loans-- which the bank sees as a loss leader. A loss leader or leader (also called a key value item in the United Kingdom is a product sold at a low price (at cost or below cost to stimulate other profitable One area that is very profitable to Wells, however, is asset-based lending: lending to large companies using assets as collateral that are not normally used in other loans. In the simplest meaning asset-based lending is any kind of lending secured by an asset This can be compared to subprime lending, but on a corporate level. Subprime lending ( near-prime, non-prime, or second chance lending is a financial term that was popularized by the media during the "credit crunch" The main brand name for this activity is "Wells Fargo Foothill," and is regularly marketed in tombstone ads in the Wall Street Journal. Tombstone ads are most often used in the financial industry where a particular transaction (such as an offering or placement of Stock of a company is formally announced in a form Wells Fargo also owns Eastdil Secured, which is described as a "real estate investment bank" but is essentially one of the largest commercial real estate brokers for very large transactions (such as the purchase and sale of large Class-A office buildings in central business districts throughout the United States).

Consumer finance

Wells Fargo Financial is the consumer finance segment. Consumer finance in the most basic sense of the word refers to any kind of lending to consumers It engages in lending through over 1,000 branches throughout the U. Credit is the provision of resources (such as granting a Loan) by one party to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately thereby generating S. and in certain other countries. This division also engages in "indirect lending" for such organizations as furniture retailers. This business is based out of Des Moines, Iowa. Norwest purchased DIAL Finance before its acquisition with Wells Fargo. The Home Mortgage group is based out of West Des Moines, Iowa. West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties in the U

Environmental Record

Wells Fargo has received awards for environment in Green Power Leadership Club, Partner of the Year 2007 and is in the top 25 of Green Power Partnership. In line with its commitment to the environment, Wells Fargo purchases renewable energy certificates (RECs) to support the generation of 550 million kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable wind energy per year. “This commitment reflects the desire of our team members to do what’s right for our customers, our communities, and our company. By purchasing RECs we are advancing our efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions while doing our part to encourage the development of new renewable energy sources,” said Mary Wenzel, Vice President of Environmental Affairs. Through its green power purchase, Wells Fargo is helping to address important business and societal issues such as rising energy costs, poor air quality and climate change and taking steps toward achieving its goal of integrating environmental responsibility throughout the Company’s business practices and operations. [5]Wells Fargo has also announced a ten-point environmental commitment to more effectively integrate environmental responsibility into its business practices and procedures. [6]

Business model

The present business model of Wells Fargo is summed up in its vision statement: "We want to satisfy all of our customers' financial needs, help them succeed financially, be the premier provider of financial services in every one of our markets, and be known as one of America's great companies. "[7]

Wells Fargo's goal is to encourage its customers to buy all their financial products through Wells Fargo: "We want to earn 100 percent of our customers' business. The more products customers have with Wells Fargo the better deal they get, the more loyal they are, and the longer they stay with the company, improving retention. Eighty percent of our revenue growth comes from selling more products to existing customers. Our goal: sell at least eight products to every customer. "[8]

This is a concept known as "cross-selling," or as Wells Fargo refers to it, "needs-based selling," which is popular in the financial services industry. Cross-selling is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "the action or practice of selling among or between established clients markets traders etc Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. While earlier companies, such as Prudential, pioneered the concept of selling a variety of products, they acted merely as holding companies and each product was sold through its own distribution channel. A holding company is a company that owns part all or a majority of other companies' outstanding Stock. Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of Marketing mix. However, predecessor Norwest pioneered selling all its products through all its channels, with discounts given to those who purchase a larger variety.

The average "cross-sell ratio" for a financial institution is two (based on an average American consumer owning sixteen different financial products from eight different institutions). In Financial economics, a financial institution acts as an agent that provides Financial services for its clients or members Wells Fargo purports to have a cross-sell ratio of 5. 5 (2007 data) products per Community Banking household (almost one in five have more than eight), 6. 1 (2007 data) for Wholesale Banking customers, and the average middle-market commercial banking customer has more than seven products, which is among the highest in the country. [9] (Washington Mutual was beating them at the end of 2003 with a 5. Washington Mutual Inc (abbreviated to WaMu) ( is a savings bank holding company and the former owner of Washington Mutual Savings Bank, which was the 59 ratio. [10]) Achieving such a high cross-sell ratio would result in a financial services version of the "agglomerator" business model, most popular among the big-box retailers, such as Home Depot, Office Depot, and Wal-Mart. The Home Depot ( is an American Retailer of Home improvement and construction products and services Office Depot ( is a supplier of office products and services The Company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines computers computer software and office Wal-Mart Stores Inc (or Walmart as written in its new logo is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores In order to facilitate achievement of this goal, Wells Fargo lobbied hard for deregulation of the banking industry, and for repeal of many of the laws that were passed during the Great Depression like the Glass-Steagall Act. The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC in the United States and included banking reforms some of which

Wells Fargo corporate buildings

Wells Fargo Center in Denver.
Wells Fargo Center in Denver. Wells Fargo Center is a building located in Denver, Colorado, United States. The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States
Wells Fargo Plaza in Phoenix.
Wells Fargo Plaza in Phoenix. The Wells Fargo Plaza is a High-rise skyscraper located on 100 West Washington Street in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona, United States

History

Main article: History of Wells Fargo

Key dates

Corporate predecessors

Wells Fargo & Company is an agglomeration of more than 2,000 mergers. The holding company was previously known as Norwest Corporation and before that as Northwestern National Bank (BANCO). Norwest was "one of the most acquisitive banks of the 1990's. . . . "[11] Most of the management and the business model of the present day Wells Fargo come from Norwest Bank, and the stock history of Wells Fargo is that of Norwest.

Selected predecessor companies

Recent controversies

A Wells Fargo branch in Logan, Utah
A Wells Fargo branch in Logan, Utah

Like many large-scale companies, Wells Fargo has attracted many vocal detractors who protest their business practices, customer service, fee levels, and other aspects of the company. Crocker National Bank was a United States Bank headquartered in San Francisco California First Interstate Bancorp was a bank holding company based in the United States that was taken over in 1996 by Wells Fargo. This article details the history of Norwest up to the point of the purchase of Wells Fargo Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 42670 a substantial increase There is even a Wells Fargo Watch project dedicated to tracking all alleged instances of corporate malfeasance, especially ongoing investigations into alleged predatory lending practices[12] in Wells' mortgage division. In Criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a Corporation (i Predatory lending is a Pejorative term used to describe practices of some Lenders.

In September 2003, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sought information about the lending practices of Wells Fargo and other national banks. The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party. Two suits seeking injunctive relief were filed against Spitzer, one by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and one by the Clearinghouse association of banks, asserting that Spitzer had no authority to regulate the activities of national banks. The suits both resulted in the granting of injunctive relief preventing the continuation of Spitzer's efforts to obtain bank information, including Wells Fargo information. An injunction is an Equitable remedy in the form of a Court order, whereby a party is required to do or interact with in certain ways all right or to refrain from

In December 2005, the parachurch group Focus on the Family ended its banking relationship[13] with Wells Fargo, due to the group's opposition to the gay rights movement, after the company announced that it was matching contributions to GLAAD. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation ( GLAAD) is a Non-profit organization of LGBT Activism that is "dedicated to promoting and Wells Fargo continued the program and received widespread support in the face of the boycott, which had no other high-profile participants.

Wells Fargo is respected for its policies and management which have kept the company away from questionable business practices which have hurt the reputation of many of its competitors in the past decade:

The relationship between the bank's Board of Directors and its shareholders has at times been contentious. The Board of Directors has recommended voting against every single shareholder proposal since 2002. [14] Many of these proposals were warnings to the company, heeding them to stop predatory lending and other controversial practices.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank
  2. ^ Browser Warning
  3. ^ Browser Warning
  4. ^ Oman,Mark. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed The Butterfield Overland Mail, also known as the Oxbow Route, the Butterfield Overland Stage, or the Butterfield Stage, was a Stagecoach route The Pony Express was a fast Mail service crossing the North American continent from St "UBS Global Financial Services Conference. " [PDF] Investor Presentation. San Francisco: Wells Fargo & Co. , 11 May 2005. pp. 17, 23. URL accessed 7 November 2005.
  5. ^ http://www.epa.gov/grnpower/partners/partners/wellsfargocompany.htm Green Partner Profile
  6. ^ http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2005/07/13/wells-fargo-commits-ten-point-plan-environmental-sustainability Wells Fargo commits to ten point environment July 13 2005
  7. ^ "Where We're Headed: Our Vision. " Vision and Values. URL accessed 26 October 2005.
  8. ^ "How We Measure Success. " Vision and Values. URL accessed 26 October 2005.
  9. '^ "Financial Review: Overview. " Wells Fargo Annual Report 2004. [PDF] San Francisco: Wells Fargo & Co. , 2005. p. 35. URL accessed on 27 October 2005.
  10. '^ "2003 Highlights. " [PDF] 2003 Summary Annual Report. Seattle, Washington: Washington Mutual, 2004. p. 3. URL accessed 27 October 2005.
  11. ^ "Attractions in Denver Colorado: Wells Fargo Center. " Denver Travel Guide. URL accessed 26 October 2005.
  12. ^ ACORN. "Under Pressure, Wells Fargo Makes Reforms. " Press Release. 16 September 2005. URL accessed 19 October 2005.
  13. ^ Focus on the Family. Focus on the Family Severs Ties with Wells Fargo. 1 December 2005. URL accessed 27 March 2006.
  14. ^ Predatorix. "[www. predatorix. com/wfboardrejectsstockholderproposals. htm Wells Fargo's Board of Directors rejected every stockholder proposal since 2002]. " URL accessed 12 September 2007.

External links


Predatory lending is a Pejorative term used to describe practices of some Lenders. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is a community-based organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working
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