Wells Fargo Bank: Mobile Banking and the Risk of Identity Theft
Alina Rayas
Cesar E. Romero
Enrique A. Quintana
Manuel Rangel
Assignment #3: Case Analysis
Workplace Writing
English 3355
Summer I, 2013
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Since its foundation in 1852, Wells Fargo has been the fastest growing and most successful bank
of the west. It all started when Henry Wells and William Fargo opened the first Wells Fargo
bank in San Francisco. At the beginning, Wells Fargo offered only gold banking services. But in
a few years after the completion of the transcontinental railroad of 1869, Wells Fargo was
delivering gold all across the country, from the city of New York, all the way to the deserts of
Texas. The bank continued growing and by the year 1918, Wells Fargo was part of 10,000
communities across the country.
Today, the headquarters of Wells Fargo are still in San Francisco, but the bank has expanded not
only in the US, but in other countries as well. Now, Wells Fargo has more than 9,000 stores and
more than 12,000 ATM’s throughout North America and internationally. Although, they still
offer gold services, their main focus is to provide banking services, mortgages, insurance,
investments among other services, to all their regular customers and online customers.
Nowadays, the bank has more than 70 million customers (WellsFargo.com) and more than 75%
of those customers use online banking for their personal finances. We chose Wells Fargo for our
Case Analysis, because we thought that as a bank that has millions of users and a huge online
banking population, they could really do something to improve the online security of online
banking users and prevent or minimize the risk of identity theft.
SWOT Analysis
Of course having 70 more than million customers is the greatest strength of the bank, but if we
look closer we will find the reasons why Wells Fargo is the first choice for all those people. In
the “Quarterly Fact Sheet” published by Wells Fargo the 1st Quarter of 2013, one can read all the
reasons why Wells Fargo has an advantage over its competitors. Among those reasons are: They
are the #1 Retail mortgage lenders, #1 Provider of private student loans, #1 Small business
lenders, etc Also, the table below shows some of the rankings the company has earned.
Customer Satisfaction and Reputation
Top 20
Biggest Public
Companies in World (2012)
Forbes
Most Powerful Women in Banking – Top Banking Teams (2012)
American Banker
100 Best Corporate Citizens (2012)
Corporate Responsibility Magazine
.
45th
Most Admired (World) (2012)
Fortune
25th
Revenue (U.S.) (2012)
Fortune
27th
Most Respected (World) (2012)
Barron’s
The weakness of a bank like Wells Fargo is that it has limited international presence. It is in only 130
countries, and their goal is to one day become a global company. Another weakness is the weak security
measures against identity theft. The rapid advances of technology make it hard for many banks, not only
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Wells Fargo, to keep up their security measures. As mentioned before, more than 75% of Wells Fargo
clients take advantage of the online banking services that the bank offers. The issue of online banking
protection for identity theft will be discussed later in this essay.
The opportunities for Wells Fargo are many. The bank is growing very fast on technology enabled
services, as well as it is slowly striving to become a global company and open more stores in different
countries around the world. However, there are also a vast amount of threats for the bank. Becoming more
technological implies a greater risk of incidents of online scams.
Wells Fargo Communication Strategy
Wells Fargo continues to maintain a modern way to communicate to its clients, such as
email updates with new information about its products and services. It has pulled out banking
apps for the ever growing smart phone web, as well as online banking via the Internet. Wells
Fargo branches are located throughout the United States which offer brick and mortar facilities
with tellers, personal bankers and loan officers, all of which can inform customers of new
products and services, loan rates, CD's and many more services.
Wells Fargo has in the past has mostly had communication with its clients through its
branches, or basic information through the phone. Banking statements were sent out through the
mail. But since the turn of the century as technology has taken us to new communication heights,
banking information has evolved into online statements about clients' accounts, balances, etc.
ATM's, which were not around in the 1980's have become a predominant way to conduct
banking transactions for many banking customers, not just for Wells Fargo, but the entire
banking industry as a whole. One can even send and receive money through the touch of screen
on mobile banking apps via smart phones. Banking deposits and transactions can be done
through taking a picture with one's phone and uploading it through the banking app. Technology
has made banking easier in so many ways, but has exposed us to risks.
Communication must be kept at a level for all customers to understand, and the online
website is "user friendly" so as to allow all customers the ability to easily navigate the website
and find all his or her online banking needs. A full array of banking information is available at
www.wellsfargo.com but not limited to:
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retirement
fraud information center
going to college
protect what counts
financial education
customer services
financial planning
general banking
online bill pay
opening new accounts
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Wells Fargo continues to improve on its communication strategies and as technology changes the
ways we communicate to one another, so will the bank continue to meet its customer’s needs.
Wells Fargo Vision and Goals
Wells Fargo vision was written more than 20 years ago, and today it is just as relevant as when it
was written. Wells Fargo Vision is:
“We want to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.”
(Wells Fargo Today, 2013) Wells Fargo wants to provide financial satisfaction to successful
customers. Their vision is based by believing that all customers can be better served and they can
save time and money by giving all of them financial services from one trusted provider that
know them well. In this way, Wells Fargo can provide trusted guidance and advice through a
wide choice of products and services. Their work toward their vision has required hard work,
persistence and determination. They want to learn more about their customers and their financial
needs to satisfy them with their services. We can see by this quote that their vision is to build a
good relationship with their customers. “Our vision has nothing to do with transactions, pushing
products or getting bigger for the sake of bigness. It’s about building lifelong relationships one
customer at a time.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
As we know, everyone has their own definition of financial success and Wells Fargo knows
about it and they want serve each customer with their financial goals. As an example, financial
success can include financial security, self-sufficiency or the desire to be disciplined and focused
on spending and saving. In this way, customers can use their money on their business, home or
education.
Wells Fargo wants to their customers to be financially successful and they want to satisfy all
their financial needs. And they said that the result is that they make money because of their focus
on serving customers. “This time-tested vision will forever be what matters to Wells Fargo.
We’ll never put the stagecoach ahead of the horses.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
Values play an important step in Wells Fargo success. Values guide their decisions, interactions
and conversation among their team members and customers. They believe that all team members
should know their values and believe in values lived, not in phrases memorized. The five
primary values that are based on Wells Fargo vision that provide the foundation for everything
they do are:
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People as a competitive advantage
Ethics
What’s right for customers
Diversity and inclusion
Leadership
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Goals: Revenue and financial goals
“Wells Fargo is a growth company that believes the key to the bottom line is the top line.
(Wells Fargo, 2013) The ability to grow profits consistently is based on sustainable revenue
growth—growth driven by our ability to satisfy all of our customers’ fundamental financial
needs year after year.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
The most important measure of service, sales and customer satisfaction for Wells Fargo is the
revenue growth. If Wells Fargo had to select only one goal, they would choose revenue growth.
They know that they cannot control the economy, interest rates, the markets or the world events.
They focus on what they can control and what they can sustain in long term: their core
performance and their revenue growth. Wells Fargo goal is to control their core performance and
revenue growth by serving their customers and making smart business decisions.
Wells Fargo is an important company and customers and shareholders can trust because they
maintain and measure their conservative financial position by asset quality, capital levels, lack
complexity, diversity of revenues sources and sound accounting policies.” We measure our
financial success by the financial success of our customers. To be financially successful, we want
all our customers and team members to be financially educated and well prepared to make wise
financial choices.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
Goal for every customer and stock
As we know, Wells Fargo wants all customers to see them as a trusted source in service and
sound guidance. “Our counsel and guidance can make a real difference in the lives of our
customers. This requires an honest discussion as we build out their financial plans”(Wells Fargo,
2013) they said.
Wells Fargo wants their financial results to be the best in the financial services industry and the
entire Fortune 500. They want to be a leader in their industry in return on equity, return on
assets, and growth in revenue and profitability. “If we do what’s right for our team members,
customers and communities, then— and only then—will we earn sustained profits and have our
shareholders see us as a great investment.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
Reputation and social responsibility goal
Their reputation goal is to be known as one of the world’s great companies. The responsibility as
a corporation is to protect their customers’ assets and helping them financially. “We’re
responsible for promoting the long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in
our communities.”(Wells Fargo, 2013)
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The Current Challenge
Mobile banking has giving many customers alternatives to their busy and technology
filled lives. It has changed the way banking and business is done globally. Although mobile
banking is a great new tool for customers it also comes with possible high risks of identity theft.
One risk that is evident is the ease that many young customers have with posting personal details
about themselves on many social media sties. Without realizing how that same information can
be used to harm their identities. Looking at data from as recent as 2010 to 2011 shows a slight
increase in identity theft and fraud in the banking system. Recent studies of 18 year old
customers suggest that the incident of identity theft was at 4.35% in 2010 compared to 4.9% in
2011. This may seem like a small increase but at the loss of billions of dollars.
As experts investigate these incidents of identity theft they have noticed that many of
their younger customers are posting too much information such as birthdays, emails and high
school names. They are “over sharing” and this leaves many customers vulnerable to thieves
who are looking for easy targets. These experts state that 18 to 24 years olds have a false sense of
protection when they share any information on social media and they do not report or detect
fraud right away. Many of young users do not fully understand the security precautions needed
towards banking and their use of Facebook accounts.
Solutions to the Challenge
The good news is that there are many steps and precautions that the banking system and
young users can do. Banks are constantly updating and monitoring security measures on mobile
apps with 24/7 surveillance and strict control of their security systems. In addition, banks are
decreasing the time of inactivity when logged on with a mobile app to as little as 5 minutes
which reduces the risk of unauthorized access to accounts if devices are stolen or lost.
Young banking customers can also help in protecting their identity by using some of the
following measures. Downloading banking apps from trusted sources that include iTunes and
Droid market. Protecting your password by making it unique and not using birthdates and
addresses also by simply not storing important passwords on the mobile devices. Using the
mobile devices built in lock function to detract from use of the phone and not leaving the device
unattended while using the banking app are some recommendation given to younger customers.
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Works Cited
Wells Fargo. (2013, 07 01). Retrieved from Wells Fargo:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/invest_relations/vision_values/3
Wells Fargo Today. (2013, 07 01). Retrieved from Wells Fargo Today: Quarterly Fact Sheet:
https://www.wellsfargo.com/downloads/pdf/about/wellsfargotoday.pdf
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