1 May 2014
Mr. John G. Stumpf
Chairman, President, CEO
Wells Fargo & Company
420 Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94163
Subject: Feasibility Study
Dear Mr. Stumpf,
I am pleased to report that I have accomplished my goal in completing the study on the
feasibility of having a free checking account with Wells Fargo. I would like to thank you for
presenting me with the opportunity to conduct the research necessary to form a conclusion on the
topic. It may not be the typical subject to conduct research on but it was an area of great interest
to me.
I began the project by conducting my research on the UAA library database. I discovered several
articles regarding previous products that was offered back in 2010. Wells Fargo previously
offered free checking accounts to consumers. In addition, I also found old brochures stating the
products and services offered by the bank. The brochure presented excellent information
regarding fewer stipulations for checking accounts that helped customers avoid monthly service
fees.
I also conducted primary research by submitting questionnaires to 20 students of University of
Alaska Anchorage. Respondents to the survey indicated a surprising amount of frustration with
the current monthly fee the bank charges to have a checking account, and have a strong desire to
eliminate this cost. The majority of the participants of the survey would rather bank with credit
unions, the main reason is because of the fees that are assessed in their checking accounts.
I found the research interesting and informative, and I am confident that enough information was
reviewed to be able to arrive at a good conclusion. Thank you for granting me permission to
pursue this feasibility study. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by
email at ngfernandez@uaa.alaska.edu or by telephone at 907- 947-6928
Sincerely,
Nina Fernandez
Running head: FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
Offering a Free Checking Account at Wells Fargo Bank
A Feasibility Report
English 212: Technical Writing
Instructor: Professor Krista Soria
May 1, 2014
1
FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
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Abstract
In February 2014, a study was conducted in order to learn whether it would be feasible to have a
free checking account with Wells Fargo. This paper presents the findings of that research,
including a survey from classmates of Technical Writing 212 of Professor Krista Soria, and an
analysis of available secondary research. Through this process, it was discovered that it may be
feasible for Wells Fargo to offer free checking account because there is ample interest in the
product. Wells Fargo provided a free checking account back in 2010, and had a variety of
products that had fewer stipulations needed to have a checking account without getting a
monthly fee. Although it may be feasible, it is recommended that additional research be
performed in order to validate the preliminary findings.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................3
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................4
Methods............................................................................................................................................5
Results ..............................................................................................................................................8
Figure 1 ......................................................................................................................................10
Figure 2 ......................................................................................................................................11
Figure 3 ......................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................13
Recommendation ...........................................................................................................................14
References ......................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
On February 20, 2014, I submitted my proposal to proceed with my research regarding
my feasibility project. I then started to conduct more secondary research by searching articles
and newspaper in the UAA Consortium Library’s online databases and physically going to Wells
Fargo Bank and procure brochures that will help me with my research. This topic is important
because it will support Wells Fargo’s visions and values of desiring to satisfy “all customers’
financial needs and help them succeed financially” (Wells Fargo & Company, 2012).
The solution I offer is creating a product that is both attractive and convenient and that
would be a free checking account. Another option would be putting back the service that requires
a monthly recurring transfer from checking to savings that will automatically waive monthly fees
in both accounts. I think it will be doable because it has been offered before, also another
alternative is to lower the direct deposit amount requirement. This too has been offered in the
past and can be put back into action. A free checking account will bring new customers and
therefore we can offer more products and services to maximize the financial opportunities for
both the customer and the bank (Spitier, 2005).
Many people with bank accounts do not want to get charged a monthly fee (Newman,
2012). More people are closing their accounts and moving it to credit unions, which do not have
any stipulations or requirements to open an account or have to add more products and services
with them to have a free account (Digitale, 2011). People who have friends, family members, or
others that are familiar with Wells Fargo seem to have the impression that Wells Fargo is
infamous for fees and charges. Many people cannot maintain a minimum balance, have direct
deposit, or swipe their debit cards at least 10 times or more every month, or have online
statements to get discounted fees (Yerak, 2010).
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Overall I believe the availability of a free checking account to customers is a lucrative
business decision for Wells Fargo. It will retain and gain clients and satisfy all parties involved.
In the following discussion I describe completed research, proposed research, criteria to evaluate
my research and make a recommendation, my qualifications and credentials, and a schedule for
completing my project.
FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
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Methods
I began by searching in Academic Search Premier, a database which was not very helpful
for me. I searched the terms “Wells Fargo checking account” and found one result that was not
very useful. I changed my research term to “Wells Fargo fee” and found 26 result and briefly
examined the sources and concluded that none of these are helpful. So I decided to change my
term to “cost of checking account for bank” and found 18 results, I briefly analyze it and found 1
source that supported my research. I also tried “free checking for customers” for research term
and refined it to items with full text online and got 97,889 results. I found couple articles that
supported my research.
Therefore, I decided to go back to UAA Consortium Library and using Quick Search I
search the terms “wells fargo checking account fee” and found 6,648 results, I refined my search
to items with full text online and for content type I chose a Newspaper Article and a Journal
Article that condensed my research to 3,526 result. I immediately analyzed the first 20 results
and found it very useful for my research project. After analyzing the results from the criteria as
located above, I started reviewing the brochures that I got from the bank. The results I found
perfectly fit my topic.
Finally, I evaluated my resources and found that I had a very difficult time finding
information on what I was proposing. My main secondary resource was the brochures from
Wells Fargo bank. I was able to compare and analyze details I need for my feasibility paper. It
was also helpful to know the changes in fees and requirements to avoid fees from 2011 to
current.
The use of UAA Consortium Library’s online databases was also helpful. I found more
evidence that supports questions about Wells Fargo offering a free checking account. With this
FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
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online data base it is quite frustrating to search topics for information, because I had to do a trial
and error for terms to get what I’m looking for.
As a primary resource I conducted a survey for my classmates to be administered
confidentially using UAA Qualtrics Survey. I read many irate comments on fees. I felt their
anger and frustration in their words when it comes to the fees that they are charged. It is very
helpful when it comes down to statistics on which banks people prefer, and coincidentally have
very little fees or none at all.
Despite all the time I have to put in for my research project. The examples provided by
the professor have been very helpful, and when I get disheartened or lost I can look on the UAA
blackboard to reenergize me and encourage me to proceed.
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Results
After narrowing down my research criteria, I have located nine article and three
brochures which will help me with my feasibility project. In one of the articles,
Wells Fargo has been phasing out its free checking over the past three years. In July 2010, the
bank will no longer offer this type of checking to new customers (Malone, 2012). In the same
article the former free checking account also known as Essential Checking migrates customers to
$7-per-month checking account (Malone, 2012). Customers can avoid the fee by maintaining a
$1500 minimum daily balance or having more than $500 direct deposit each month. The
changes also took effect for its former Wachovia customers in New York, Connecticut, Georgia,
Delaware and Pennsylvania. It will be rolled out in other states in August (Newman, 2012). Such
information will assist me with my feasibility research.
I also located an important percentage of accounts that offer free checking accounts. 34%
Major banks, 70% Community banks, and 78% Credit Unions (Gandel, 2011). This information
will support why more people are closing their accounts and moving it to credit unions, which do
not have any stipulations or requirements to open an account or have to add more products and
services with them to have a free account. From the same article written by Gandel it also stated
an amount per year an individual checking account costs banks. Major Banks ranges from
$250.00 to $450.00 and Community banks $175.00 to $200.00 (Gandel, 2011). Therefore, I will
examine other ways to lower the costs for banks and consumers.
I found a particular brochure that will assist me the most for this project: Consumer
account fee and information schedule: What you need to know about your account. I have the
2011 version when I first open my Checking account and the latest version 2013 that I took last
month for my feasibility project. This brochures give me a detailed information regarding Wells
FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
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Fargo Bank checking account with a myriad of products or stipulations anywhere in United
States. I expect to dig deep into this particular brochure to discover if there may be additional
information found within its content.
I also developed a survey using UAA Qualtrics Survey. There were various results from
classmates. Ninety one percent of the participants do have checking accounts either with a bank
or a credit union (Qualtrics, 2014). Many were not happy with the fees that banks charge, on the
other hand those had no fees attached to their accounts were quite happy with the financial
institution they are patrons of.
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For the past two months, I have been doing research regarding the feasibility of Wells Fargo
Banks offering a free checking account. I administered a survey using UAA Qualtrics, the
surveys is distributed to UAA Technical Writing 212 students of Professor Soria. There are total
of 33 students who participated in the survey. Figure.1 illustrates the number of survey
participants who answered the question “Do you have checking account? If yes, where?” A total
of 23 survey participants responded to this question (Qualtrics, 2014). Two participants’
responded “No,” and 21 participants responded “Yes.” Six of who responded “Yes” banks with
Wells Fargo, twelve bank with credit unions, and three of these participants decided to not
respond. The most significant number of participants who ban with a credit union is equivalent to
half of the number that banks with Wells Fargo. These results show how many participants
prefer to have credit unions versus Wells Fargo. It means that most participants preferred to
have banking relationship with Credit Unions.
Figure 1. Where do you bank?
Wells Fargo
Credit Unions
6
Yes
12
No Response
3
2
No
0
5
10
15
20
25
Figure 1. Number of participants who own a checking account. The most significant number
of participants who bank with credit unions is equivalent to half of the number that banks with
Wells Fargo.
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Figure two illustrates the percentage of participants who answered the survey question “If
an option is given to you, what would you like to change about your bank?” There are a total of
20 participants who answered this question (Qualtrics, 2014). 25% of said participants would
like to have a local branch of their financial institution, 40% of said participants would like to
change the fees of their financial institution, and 35% of said participant would like to change
none or had no answer. The significance of these percentages regards changing the fees in
financial institutions and it is what a majority of the participants are concerned about in their
banking. The correlation of this result in my criteria question is that most of the survey
participants do not want to get fees to do banking business. This means that participants do not
want to do financial transactions to institutions that charges monthly fee.
Non/Other
35%
Fees
40%
Fees
Local Branch
Non/Other
Local Branch
25%
Figure 2. Percentage of the participants concerns about their financial institution. The
significance of these percentage regarding changing fees in financial institutions is what
participants concern in their banking.
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The last figure represents the number of survey participants who answered the question
“What do you know about Wells Fargo’s monthly fee? There are a total of 24 survey participants
who answered this question. The first column show that there are nine participants that know
Wells Fargo has a high monthly fee. The second column show that there are 14 participants that
do not know anything about Wells Fargo fees because they don’t bank with them or they refuse
to bank with Wells Fargo due to high fees. The third column show that there is one participant
who comments about Wells Fargo having a low rate. The significance of this result demonstrates
that Wells Fargo has a high monthly fee and the participants refuse to bank with them because of
this fee. It is important to discover these results because that’s what my project is all about. This
means that Wells Fargo is known for high monthly fee.
FIGURE 3. NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS
Rates
4%
High Monthly
Fee
38%
Know Nothing
58%
Figure 3. Number of respondents who knows about Wells Fargo’s monthly fees. The
significance of this result demonstrates that Wells Fargo has high monthly fees and participants
refuse to bank with them because of this fee.
Overall I believe the availability of a free checking account to customers is a lucrative business
decision for Wells Fargo. It will retain and gain clients and satisfy all parties involved.
FREE CHECKING ACCOUNT
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Conclusion
After reviewing and analyzing the data gathered, the following conclusion have been
drawn:

The data from the questionnaires indicate that students of University of Alaska
Anchorage refuses to bank with Wells Fargo because of the cost of having a
checking account. Students are more likely interested to bank with Wells Fargo if
a complimentary checking is offered.

Research exist and proves that Wells Fargo used to offer free checking account
and have a variety of accounts that has lower stipulation needed to not get a fee
charged.

Participants have disclosed the reason behind having a credit union.
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Recommendation
I recommend that future students of Technical Writing 212 to proceed with its feasibility
study of having a free checking account with Wells Fargo. Research shows that there is more
chance of Wells Fargo to offer free checking or lower the stipulations to have a checking
account. Students are positive toward the possibility, especially if they are asked to bank at no
cost. It will be more beneficial for existing and new customer for Wells Fargo to offer free
checking account.
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References
Digitale, R. (2011). Anger at big banks sends customers to credit unions. McClatchy
Tribune Business News. Retrieved from
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14473
Gandel, S. (2011). Free for a Fee. Time, 178(20), 18.
Hemlock, D. (2012). Wells fargo trims free checking, adds $7 monthly fee. McClatchy - Tribune
Business News. Retrieved from
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473
Newman, R. (2012). Wells fargo tacks on checking fee. Herald News.
Stango, V., & Zinman, J. (2009). What do consumers really pay on their checking and credit card
accounts? Explicit, implicit, and avoidable costs. The American Economic Review, 424429.
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.. (2011). Consumer account fee and information schedule: What you
need to know about your account. [Brochure].
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.. (2013). Consumer account fee and information schedule: What you
need to know about your account. [Brochure].
Wells Fargo & Company. (2012). The vision & values of wells fargo. [Brochure].
Spaid, T., & Branton, M. (2013). The Profitability of the Average Checking Account.
BankDirector. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.bankdirector.com/board
-issues/retail/the-profitability-of-the-average-checking-account/
Spitier, R., & Foote, R. (2005). Stop Free Checking's Free Fall. U.S. Banker, 115(12), 60.
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Yerak, B. (2010). Fee-free checking holding on. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved
from
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Zelie, K. (2005). Today's wells fargo. Boulder County Business Report, 24(11), 2-S1, S4.
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