Wells Fargo is one of the biggest financial services currently in America with their headquarters in San Francisco!
It recently had a problem with its online banking! So it’s the perfect time to find out some interesting facts about this huge enterprise!
- Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company
- Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California
- It has central offices throughout the United States
- It is the world’s second- largest bank by market capitalization
- Wells Fargo also is the fourth largest bank in the US by total assets
- Wells Fargo is ranked #26 on the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest US corporations by total revenue
- In July 2015, Wells Fargo became the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, edging past ICBC
- It has since slipped behind JPMorgan Chase in September 2016
- That happened in the wake of a scandal involving the creation of over 2 million fake bank accounts by Wells Fargo employees
- Wells Fargo surpassed Citigroup to become the third- largest US bank by assets at the end of 2015
- It has since fell behind Bank of America to third in bank deposits in 2017
- The firm’s primary operating subsidiary is national bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
- It designates its main office as Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Wells Fargo in its present form is a result of a merger between San Francisco– based Wells Fargo & Company and Minneapolis- based Norwest Corporation in 1998
- And the subsequent 2008 acquisition of Charlotte- based Wachovia
- Following the mergers, the company transferred its headquarters to Wells Fargo’s headquarters in San Francisco
- It also merged its operating subsidiary with Wells Fargo’s operating subsidiary in Sioux Falls
- Along with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup, it is one of the “Big Four Banks” of the United States
- As of June 2018, it had 8,050 branches
- With 13,000 ATMs
- In 2018 the company had operations in 35 countrie
- It has over 70 million customers globally
- In February 2014, Wells Fargo was named the world’s most valuable bank brand
- This happened for the second consecutive year
- It was named s in The Banker and Brand Finance study of the top 500 banking brands
- In 2016, it had ranked 7th on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest public companies in the world
- And 27th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest companies in the US
- In 2015, the company was ranked the 22nd most admired company in the world
- It was also the 7th most respected company in the world
- As of December 2018, the company had a Standard & Poors credit rating of A−
- However, for a brief period in 2007, the company was the only AAA‑ rated bank
- This was a reflection of the highest credit rating from two firms
- On February 2, 2018, the US Federal Reserve Bank barred Wells Fargo from growing its nearly US$2 trillion- asset base any further
- This was based upon years of misconduct
- And it will be put until Wells Fargo fixes its internal problems to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve
- In April 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US Department of Labor had launched a probe into whether the bank was pushing its customers into more expensive retirement plans
- As well as into retirement funds managed by the bank itself
- Subsequently in May 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that Wells Fargo’s business banking group had improperly altered documents about business clients
- This happend both in 2017 and early 2018
- In June 2018, Wells Fargo began retreating from retail banking in the Midwestern United States
- This happend by announcing the sale of all its physical bank branch locations in Indiana, Michigan
- And Ohio to Flagstar Bank
- In 1852 Henry Wells and William G. Fargo, the two founders of American Express, formed Wells Fargo & Company to provide express and banking services to California
- In 1860 it had gained control of Butterfield Overland Mail Company, leading to operation of the western portion of the Pony Express
- In 1866 “Grand consolidation” united Wells Fargo, Holladay, and Overland Mail stage lines under the Wells Fargo name
- In 1905 it had been separating its banking and express operations; Wells Fargo’s bank was merged with the Nevada National Bank to form the Wells Fargo Nevada National Bank
- In 1918 as a wartime measure, the US Federal Government nationalized the bank’s express franchise into a federal agency known as the US Railway Express Agency
- The US Federal Government took control of the express company
- The bank began rebuilding but with a focus on commercial markets
- After the war, REA was privatized and continued service until 1975
- In 1923, Wells Fargo Nevada merged with the Union Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank & Union Trust Company
- In 1929 the Northwest Bancorporation was formed as a banking association
- In 1954, Wells Fargo & Union Trust shortened its name to Wells Fargo Bank
- In 1960, the bank merged with American Trust Company to form the Wells Fargo Bank American Trust Company
- In 1962, Wells Fargo American Trust again shortened its name to Wells Fargo Bank
- In1968 Wells Fargo converted to a federal banking charter, becoming Wells Fargo Bank, N.A
- In 1969 Wells Fargo & Company holding company was formed, with Wells Fargo Bank as its main subsidiary
- In1982 the Northwest Bancorporation acquired consumer finance firm Dial Finance which is renamed Norwest Financial Service the following year
- In 1983 the Northwest Bancorporation was renamed Norwest Corporation
- In 1983 the White Eagle, the largest US bank heist to date took place at a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut
- In 1986,Wells Fargo acquired Crocker National Corporation from Midland Bank
- In 1987, Wells Fargo acquired the personal trust business of Bank of America
- In 1988, it also acquired Barclays Bank of California from Barclays plc
- In 1995, Wells Fargo became the first major US financial services firm to offer Internet banking
- In 1996, Wells Fargo acquired First Interstate Bancorp for US$11.6 billion
- In 1998,Wells Fargo Bank was acquired by Norwest Corporation of Minneapolis
- Norwest was the surviving company, however, it chose to continue business under the more well- known bank name
- In 2000, the bank acquired National Bank of Alaska
- Also in 2000, Wells Fargo acquired First Security Corporation
- In 2001, Wells Fargo acquired H.D. Vest Financial Services for US$128 million
- It also sold it in 2015 for US$580 million
- In 2007, Wells Fargo acquired CIT’s construction unit
- It also acquired Placer Sierra Bank
- And the Greater Bay Bancorp, which had US$7.4 billion in assets
- This happened in a US$1.5 billion transaction
- In 2008, Wells Fargo acquired United Bancorporation of Wyoming
- It also acquired Century Bancshares of Texas
- And the Wachovia Corporation
- In 2009, Wells Fargo acquired North Coast Surety Insurance Services
- In 2012 it acquired Merlin Securities and, also, acquired stake in The Rock Creek Group LP
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