Wells Fargo is re-imagining the future of personal finance to optimise the customer experience. Robin Arnfield reports
In the last year, Wells Fargo has announced several major innovations to improve its digital banking users’ customer experience.
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By GlobalDataLast October, it launched NFC functionality at over 5,000 US ATMs, enabling customers to initiate ATM transactions with wearables or mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay as well as Wells Fargo’s Android-based wallet.
Wells Fargo plans to upgrade the rest of its over 13,000 ATMs with NFC hardware by 2019. Since 2016, Wells Fargo mobile users have been able to use a one-time code on their smartphones for Wells Fargo ATM transactions.
During its first 2018 quarter, Wells Fargo rolled out its digital mortgage application plus the new predictive banking functionality in its mobile app
Last July, Wells Fargo piloted a digital banking experience with its staff to help simplify customers’ fragmented financial lives, with rollout due in 2018.
The experience, code-named “Control Tower,” will give customers a single view of their ‘digital financial footprint’ — including places their Wells Fargo card or account information is connected (such as recurring payments, mobile wallets, devices, subscriptions, etc.) — and will enable customers to control via an on/off function from one location how their Wells Fargo accounts and cards are shared.
Other enhancements include data exchange agreements with several popular financial management tools, plus an AI-driven chatbot experience for Facebook Messenger.
Building a better bank
“As we work to build a better bank for our customers, Wells Fargo is re-imagining the future of personal finance to deliver secure and convenient customer experiences,” says Wells Fargo spokesperson Sarah DuBois. “It’s important to recognise that customers aren’t asking for disruption. Our efforts to advance products, services and experiences are about increasing choice and customisation.”
“Since the announcement of its Payments, Virtual Solutions and Innovation group in 2016, Wells Fargo’s goal has been to redefine the next generation of capabilities and offerings and prioritise research and development elevating the customer experience and making it easier for customers to achieve financial goals,” DuBois says.
Smarter data
“Data has become the fundamental building block on which we’ll build the future of the digital age,” says DuBois. “That’s the vision which data and AI can bring to life – and that’s what we’re building at Wells Fargo. We use AI to enhance some of our internal processes, such as fraud management, and we use AI in our mobile app – in our predictive banking feature – to examine customers’ cash flow patterns and give them pointers and insights.”
The predictive banking feature analyses account information, indicating, for example, that customers have higher-than-normal automatic monthly payments or that they have surplus funds in chequeing accounts that can be transferred to savings accounts.
“While the shift from cash is happening more slowly in the US than elsewhere, mobile technology and digital commerce have escalated consumer demand for simple, fast money movement,” says DuBois.
“Banks are best positioned to be the disruptors. Take Zelle, the bank-owned P2P network that Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase launched in June 2017. It lets customers move money directly between participating bank accounts in real time, instead of having to move money to a separate account first (from a third-party wallet), and taking up to three days to transfer to your bank account. Consumers value real time. In 2017 — the year Zelle was rolled out — total (all banks) payment volume through Zelle was $75bn, with over $25bn moved through Zelle. As a point of reference, Venmo (PayPal) payment volume was a little bit more than $33bn in 2017.”
Transcending channels
“Today, convenience means we go to our customers where they are, and we give them more choices for how they interact with us,” says DuBois. “Here are some examples of what we’re doing here.
“Earlier this year, Apple announced Apple Business Chat, and named Wells Fargo as one of its launch partners. In March 2018, we were one of the first companies to roll out this messaging experience to our customers.
“With APIs, customers can connect with us where they are, even outside Wells Fargo digital properties. For example, say you’re selling your car through an online marketplace. If that website or app uses the ACH system’s API, you could confirm that the buyer has made a payment and the real-time status of that payment.”
Collaboration with Fintechs
“With the pace of technological change, our Fintech collaborations are becoming increasingly important to us,” says DuBois.
“Fintechs have challenged us to think differently about how we use data creatively to provide fast, simple, and personalised experiences to customers. Banks and Fintechs complement one another, and the most innovative solutions will likely be a product of Fintechs and large banks such as Wells Fargo working together.
Wells Fargo fosters innovation with startups in several capacities, such as with the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator. We mentor early-stage companies and help them refine their potential breakthrough technologies for financial services and other applications.
“We currently have 17 companies in our portfolio, and continue to add more. Technologies from some of these companies, as well as from other partners, power the experiences we are delivering.”
Key metrics
In February 2018, Wells Fargo had 28.8m active digital (mobile and online) customers, up 3% year-on-year, including 21.8m active mobile users, up 8% year-on-year.
Primary consumer chequeing account customers were up 0.2% year-on-year in November 2017, the bank said, and up 0.9% year-on-year in February 2018 to 23.7m.
Teller and ATM transactions fell by 4% year-on-year to 343.3m in Q1 2018 ending 31 March 2018, reflecting continued customer migration to virtual channels and lower customer growth, Wells Fargo said. Total digital secure sessions of 1.57bn were up 13% year-on-year in Q1 2018, reflecting increased usage and continued increases in digital adoption.
Wells Fargo said in January 2018 that it plans to close around 900 branches by 2020 to cut operational costs and offset legal expenses relating to its well publicised mis-selling scandal. Wells Fargo had 5,861 retail bank branches as at 31 December 2017, reflecting 214 branch consolidations for full year 2017. This fell to 5,805 branches as at 31 March 2018.
