Wells Fargo is part of the big 4 of financial institutions in America having trillions of dollars in assets.
Putting emphasis on customer-relationships by dealing with them on a personal level. However, the real
motivation was “cross-selling” where in due to positive customer engagement, it would entice them to
avail of more products from a trusted brand rather than others, with experience from past transactions.
The Company took it a step too far and got obsessed with cross selling where they placed unacceptable
pressure on their employees and set out unrealistic sales quotas in worst case scenarios being fired right
on the spot. In the span of 14 years ending 2016, employees would use the bank’s database on
customers who had pre-approval on their credit card and credit scores and essentially opened credit
cards for them, forging their signatures, carefully forging contact information and using fake emails so as
to not get caught.
In 2017, Wells Fargo admitted to creating an estimate of 3.5M fake accounts. Consequences for the
fraud resulted in 5,000 people losing their jobs; the CEO at the time, John Stumpf stepping down and
getting banned from the banking industry, and lastly. It resulted in Wells Fargo paying a sum of $4.382B
in a span of 4 years starting September 2016.
John Stumpf
Wells Fargo Logo
Cross Selling
Putting information
Forgery