The Wells Fargo - Wachovia Blog

Congratulations…it’s a blog!

2010-03-18T18:43:44Z

We now interrupt the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Blog to bring you an exciting announcement: the launch of the Wells Fargo Environmental Forum!

That's right, this week the Wells Fargo's Environmental Affairs team entered the blogosphere. As Mary Wenzel, the Director of Environmental Affairs notes in her inaugural post, the goal of the Wells Fargo Environmental Forum is to "communicate our experiences, ideas and thoughts as we work to integrate environmental responsibility into everything we do: from lending money to reducing waste."

In short, they hope the blog will serve as a dialogue about all the work Wells Fargo is doing to fund and support initiatives that make our world a little better and cleaner. They're actively seeking to learn from your experiences and input, as well.

We hope you'll find the content interesting and engaging. Please join the conversation!

More Envelope-Free SM ATMs coming your way…

2010-03-09T23:10:02Z

In December, we told you about the rollout of the Envelope-Free ^SM ATMs in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and North Carolina.

More recently, some of our readers commented on the ATMs being upgraded in Florida and South Carolina.

Now, even more of you all across the country can enjoy the new ATMS! During the spring and summer, we'll be upgrading ATMs in Alabama, Connecticut, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Tennessee.

If you've used one, let us know what you think!

Leadership Q&A Series: Richard Henderson, Corporate Properties Group Director

2010-03-02T00:00:17Z

If you've read some of the comment responses here, you might have seen his name. If you've read other Wells Fargo blogs, his "editing fingerprints" are all over the posts — of course, you'd never know...he's just that good. (He also just edited that line.) More relevant, however, he's our newest guest blogger, Henrik Meng.

Henrik's been with Wells Fargo for a few years now and serves as the chief Editor for all of our blogs and other Social Media projects. After a little bit of peer pressure, he's decided to put down the red pen and pick up the notebook and pencil for a change of pace.

So without further ado, please welcome Henrik to the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Blog. His first interview is with Richard Henderson, who works with Wells Fargo's Corporate Real Estate group. (—Doug Caldwell)

Henrik Meng: Hey Richard, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today.
Richard Henderson: Anytime, thanks for having me!

HM: Let's start with your title, Corporate Properties Group Director. Could you break that down for us, please? What does it mean exactly?
RH: Well, it's sort of a catch-all title. The new Wells Fargo has about 110 million square feet of domestic and international real estate, and our group oversees all of the sales and office space for the company. Basically, I coordinate the physical transition of Wachovia financial centers and office buildings to Wells Fargo, in partnership with many other teams in the company. So we do things like buy and install signs, computers, furniture, paint, and other materials — all the necessary tasks to make this transition a success for our customers and bankers. And since this is one of the most visible merger changes to our customers, we're certainly trying to minimize the disruption for everyone.

HM: Some of our readers have wondered why an integration of two companies like Wells Fargo and Wachovia takes so long. Can you tell our readers what your part of the transition entails?
RH: Well, it's definitely a lengthy process, and in some cases intentionally so! It involves getting properties ready to transition — a lot of behind-the-scenes work goes on before the customer sees any changes to one of our locations. Through it all, we're being very careful and deliberate with the changes in our products and services. We really want to make sure everything's ready for a successful re-opening of Wachovia Financial Centers as Wells Fargo banking stores.

We've had lots of time to plan, which is great for my team because changing signage takes longer than you might think. The life cycle of changing store signs can be as much as five or six months from planning to execution. And there are all sorts of things to deal with during that time, like landlord approvals, permits from municipalities, local architectural review committees...and all that happens after we decide what the scope is!

HM: What do you mean by "scope"?
RH: Well, first we survey each location to see what signs are there and go through a code review to see what the city allows. Then we'll coordinate with our Brand Management team and our bankers to decide which signs to apply and what their visibility will be. For leased locations, we work with the landlord to negotiate the kinds of signs we can install, get the necessary permits, and in some areas discuss our plans with architectural review committees. Once all of that is complete and we've secured approvals, we order our new signs, take down, patch and repair the walls where the old ones were, and finally install the new signs. So as you can see, it's quite a lengthy process! And we have to do it for every store that's transitioning, since each one has its unique needs.

HM: Wow, you weren't kidding about the process.
RH: (Laughs) Not at all. Oh, and while we're completing signage tasks, we're also making many modifications to the interior of our stores. We often add desks for additional team members and incorporate many Wells Fargo brand elements. Customers may see paint color differences, new historical murals and stagecoach art. At the same time we're changing Wachovia financial centers to Wells Fargo stores, Wachovia Securities is also going through its own transition to become Wells Fargo Advisors. All 1000 locations across the country will be complete with the brand changes in early 2010....

]]> HM: Can you talk about some of the things we're doing to make these transitions environmentally friendly?
RH: Absolutely. First of all, we've asked our vendors to dismantle all of the signs we remove from Wachovia locations into their various component parts and recycle those based on material. Also, when we take down a Wachovia sign and replace it with a Wells Fargo one, we cover it until it's ready to be unveiled with the transition. The banners that we use are all made of recycled material, and we're reusing them as we go state by state. All the materials for our new signs are recyclable, the metal parts as well as the vinyl letter faces.

We've also switched from neon and florescent light sources to LED lighting for all of our letter signs — the bulk of what we're installing — because LEDs are 40% more energy efficient. We're also being prudent about minimizing waste and expenses inside our stores. We're adding low-flow plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient controls for heating and cooling, and in some of our converted stores in Colorado we've installed solar panels that generate electricity.

HM: Nice. So what other things might customers notice when their locations change over?
RH: The signs and colors will be the most visible changes, but we'll also be adding other smalldetails, like expanding some teller lines when a nearby location has closed in order to serve those additional customers. We're also adding online banking stations so customers can schedule bill payments or other tasks, flat-screen televisions that will inform customers of company news and product updates, and extra seating in some waiting areas.

I also really like the historical murals we're putting in, which reflect a local history component and are customized to the city or community where the store is located. There'll be a new Welcome Wall at the front door with a greeting and photo of a stagecoach. And customers will also notice a quote from Henry Wells: "There is one very powerful business rule. It is summed up in the word — Courtesy."

HM: So if you could talk with our Wachovia customers, what about the transition would you want them to know specifically?
RH: Across the company, everyone involved with the merger is keeping our customers at the forefront of any decision-making. We're really trying to make our locations warm, inviting and efficient so customers and team members feel comfortable and can conduct business as they need to. We also want to make these changes in ways that minimize any impact on our customers, so most of the work will occur after hours and on weekends.

HM: Any final thoughts you'd like to mention before we let you go?
RH: Well, we've definitely been getting a lot of good feedback from customers about all the changes we're making, so we feel good about that — but we'd love to hear what your blog readers have to say about their specific locations. Overall, I'm looking forward to continuing this process across the country and really hope our customers and team members enjoy the changes they see as the stagecoach rolls east!

Wells Fargo tops ACSI for 2009

2010-02-25T19:50:44Z

It's déjà vu all over again!

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), one of the most highly regarded independent measures of how satisfied U.S. customers are with the quality of consumer goods and services, has announced that Wells Fargo has ranked at the top in its 2009 survey of the largest U.S. retail banks. This marks the 9th consecutive year that Wachovia, now Wells Fargo, has held ACSI's top spot in retail banking!

Many of you (like Mike B., who writes "My hope is the service continues to be good or get better.") have commented on our blog and voiced your hopes that the integration of our two companies will not impact the customer service you have grown accustomed to.

Well, now that Wells Fargo and Wachovia have joined together, you can count on more than 280,000 team members in communities across the country using the same best-in-class approach that has led us to the top of ACSI's rankings for nine years in a row.

In addition to this recognition, we rely heavily on our own customers' feedback to give us a sense of how we're doing. We conduct more than 70,000 surveys each month with customers who do business in our retail stores — maybe you've participated in one. It's always our goal to understand your needs and deliver a great customer experience.

Here's some recognition we've recently received:

The Brand Keys 2010 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index rates Wells Fargo as the top bank.
Wells Fargo was rated the No. 1 Bank Technology Innovator of the Year for 2009 by Bank Technology News.
The Brookings Institution ranked wellsfargo.com No. 1 for technology innovation in 2009 among leading corporations.
Mobile Banking earned a 2009 Gold grade from Javelin Strategy & Research.

Of course all this starts with our team members — the single biggest influence on our customers and our competitive advantage. We couldn't do it without them. Or you.

So a big "thank you" once again to all of our great customers and team members for helping make Wells Fargo #1 in customer satisfaction this year! We really look forward to the challenge of meeting — and exceeding — your service expectations and topping the ACSI survey in 2010.

A comment on your comments

2010-02-18T17:45:33Z

Today I'd like to talk about your comments, and reiterate that we're listening to what you're telling us on the blog. In fact, we've passed along a number of comments about the pace of the integration to our senior leaders and Customer Insight team.

You might be interested to learn that, when we notice common themes to comments on the blog, we group and send them to leaders in the company to make them aware of the conversation. We also share them with our Customer Insights team, who have the ability to survey customers and get a snapshot about how they feel on a particular subject — in this case, the pace of the integration.

While we've heard that many of you want things to go faster, they found 60% of the customers surveyed were satisfied with the pace of the integration, while 36% were neutral. Just 4% said they were not satisfied.

Why are we blogging about this? Well, because we take what you tell us seriously and are escalating your comments. So if there's something related to the integration you have a question or comment about, please continue to let us know.

I can't guarantee we'll do a survey on the feedback, but I can assure you that we here on the blog — and others around the company — are listening and ready to help!

Proposed merger of mutual fund families

2010-02-12T17:45:16Z

Have you heard? Wells Fargo Funds Management, LLC (the advisor to the Wells Fargo Advantage Funds®), and its affiliate, Evergreen Investment Management Company, LLC (the advisor to the Evergreen Funds), have recently proposed changes to their mutual fund product offerings.

If you missed the announcement, head to their Integration News Center for additional details.

Not FDIC Insured • No Bank Guarantee • May Lose Value

Carefully consider a fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For a current prospectus containing this and other information, visit www.evergreeninvestments.com for Evergreen Funds and www.wellsfargo.com/advantagefunds for Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.

The Funds are distributed by Wells Fargo Funds Distributor, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC, an affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

Wachovia customers vote, 40 local California and Illinois charities win!

2010-02-10T23:42:12Z

As Ann Marie blogged in Tuesday's announcement about our local charity grants in Arizona and Nevada, today we're excited to share the results for our charitable donations in California and Illinois!

To quickly recap, Wells Fargo has been sending Wachovia customers in converting states a What to Expect packet with a general overview of the integration (happening in March for Illinois customers and in April for California customers) and an invitation to help choose the nonprofits in their state to receive one of the grants. The response from our customers in California and Illinois was overwhelming — we received over 47,000 ballots!

Here's how it works: Wells Fargo is giving $25,000 to the nonprofit receiving the largest number of votes, $15,000 to the second-place vote-getter, $10,000 to the third-place organization and $5,000 each to the two remaining groups. Due to California's size and the company's significant presence there, voting was broken into seven different regions within the state.

And now without further ado, here are the recipient nonprofit organizations and the amounts of the grants...

]]> Illinois

Chicago Children's Memorial Hospital ($25,000)
The Greater Chicago Food Depository ($15,000)
Northern Illinois Food Bank ($10,000)
Children's Home + Aid - Evanston, Palatine and Schaumburg Centers ($5,000)
Beloved Community Family Wellness Center ($5,000)

California, Central

Children's Hospital of Central California ($25,000)
Food Bank of Santa Barbara County ($15,000)
Central Coast YMCA ($10,000)
Sierra Vista Child and Family Services ($5,000)
South County Housing ($5,000)

California, Greater Bay

Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County ($25,000)
Alameda County Community Foodbank ($15,000)
Junior Achievement of Northern California ($10,000)
La Clinica de La Raza ($5,000)
Eden Housing, Affordable Housing Developer ($5,000)

California, Los Angeles Metro

Children's Hospital of Los Angeles ($25,000)
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank ($15,000)
United Way of Greater LA ($10,000)
Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services ($5,000)
Weingart Center ($5,000)

California, Northern

Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation ($25,000)
Sacramento SPCA ($15,000)
March of Dimes Foundation ($10,000)
YMCA of Greater Sacramento & San Joaquin County ($5,000)
Junior Achievement of Sacramento & Northern California ($5,000)

California, Orange County

Children's Hospital of Orange County ($25,000)
Second Harvest Food Bank, Orange County Chapter ($15,000)
American Red Cross, Orange County Chapter ($10,000)
Orangewood Children's Home ($5,000)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Orange County Chapter ($5,000)

California, San Francisco Bay

Second Harvest food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo ($25,000)
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Silicon Valley & Monterey Bay Chapter ($15,000)
Boys & Girls Club of Monterey & Santa Cruz ($10,000)
Bay Area Discovery Museum ($5,000)
Junior Achievement of San Francisco and Northern California ($5,000)

California, Southern

Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego ($25,000)
Susan G. Komen for the Cure ($15,000)
The San Diego Council of the Navy League (for Warrior Foundation) ($10,000)
Martha's Kitchen and Village ($5,000)
The Old Globe ($5,000)

$120,000 granted to local charities in Arizona and Nevada

2010-02-09T20:00:30Z

While the weather might be cold where you live, things are heating up for some local non-profit organizations in Arizona and Nevada.

As we announced earlier, Arizona, California, Illinois and Nevada are the next states to convert. And as we did with Colorado, Wells Fargo sent a What to Expect mailing to Wachovia customers in those states that provided a general overview of the March integration. This mailing also invited customers to help choose the charitable organizations that would receive a grant as a show of support and commitment to the communities we serve.

Well, in the two states we're announcing today, Arizona and Nevada, over 6,000 Wachovia customers cast their ballots! (Come back soon to find out who was selected in California and Illinois.)

Based on that overwhelming response, we're excited today to announce grants totaling $120,000 to 10 charities — five in each state! The grants are part of a broader 2010 integration-related charitable effort to provide more than $1 million to organizations serving people in need.

The five Arizona charities who will receive Wells Fargo grants are:

Association of Arizona Food Banks ($25,000)
American Cancer Society – Arizona Chapter ($15,000)
Habitat for Humanity of Central Arizona ($10,000)
Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Central Arizona ($5,000)
Special Olympics Arizona ($5,000)

The five Nevada charities who will receive Wells Fargo grants are:

Three Square Food Bank of Southern Nevada Chapters ($25,000)
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Las Vegas and Northern Nevada Chapters ($15,000)
Habitat for Humanity – Las Vegas, Inc. and Truckee Meadows Chapters ($10,000)
United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra and Southern Nevada Chapters ($5,000)
Junior Achievement of Northern and Southern Nevada Chapters ($5,000)

We salute these groups (and many others) for the great work they do every day to help their communities. Don't forget, please check back soon for the California and Illinois winners!

Check out the new integration newsletters

2010-02-05T21:45:20Z

Hey blog readers, the new integration newsletters have been posted!

If you've been following along here on the blog, you probably know most all the info in them already, but we wanted to make sure you were aware that they're out there for you.

Oh, and we also have Spanish versions available to read online as well.

All of you, our Wells Fargo and Wachovia customers, will begin to see these newsletters enclosed with their statements — unless, of course, you've gone paperless (thank you!). In which case, just click on the respective pics below.

In the news

2010-02-02T21:50:00Z

We know you've had a lot of opinions and questions about the pace of the integration. Well, thestreet.com posted an article just last week that may interest you.

Take a look, and as always, please let us know what you think!

Merger changes Los Angeles’ financial landscape

2010-02-02T16:00:14Z

Assistant Los Angeles Treasurer Crista Binder is ecstatic about the virtual treasury system Wachovia and Wells Fargo built for the city of Los Angeles...and about the more than $5.5 million the system has saved the city of Los Angeles to date.

Gone are the days of paper reports stacked to the ceiling and cashiers hand-entering hundreds of deposit records from multiple agencies into a central bank account through a 20-year-old general ledger mainframe computer system.

Using the Wells Fargo Electronic Deposit^SM service and a host of other products, employees of more than 15 city departments now transmit deposits with a few clicks. Wireless terminals at Los Angeles International Airport now send credit card payments instantly, saving parking lot attendants 400 hours of work.

Binder's favorite benefit: being able to create separate accounts for each of the city's 42 businesses instead of running all activity through one account. The system is helping the city "go green" by eliminating thousands of paper statements, returned checks, and paper lockbox documents. It's even saving residents the $4.95 fee they used to be charged for electronic utility payments now that the city can provide the service itself instead of using a vendor.

"Our story now is one of efficiency, reduced risk, and transparency," Binder says. "Departments can get daily online statements and reports over the city's intranet and gain seamless entry to multiple billing systems. It's a whole new world that has allowed us to go from being a clerical function to being recognized as an essential partner and advisor in the financial activities of the city."

Wells Fargo's Lynn Love and Wachovia's Corrie Bowman came together to make it happen....

]]> The story of their collaboration goes back to July 2008, when Los Angeles Treasurer Joya De Foor led the mammoth overhaul by leaving the city's bank of 30 years. She awarded the bulk of its business to Wachovia on the strength of its "Virtual City, Virtual Bank" solution and track record serving government customers in the east.

Wells Fargo won the business of the Department of Water & Power, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the Los Angeles Public Libraries — some of the city's largest agencies — because of its experience serving other California cities, integrating complex systems, and ability to serve residents who needed a more robust banking store network than Wachovia's then-10 locations in California.

When Wells Fargo announced its intent to purchase Wachovia about halfway through the overhaul, city leaders sought — and got — permission for Love and Bowman to work together even before Wachovia's California operations joined forces.

"I think the most amazing thing was how quickly our teams coalesced from two independent relationship management teams into one," Bowman observes.

Love agrees. "Not being on the same platform, Corrie and I had a short time to understand both companies' products but from day one, we put the customer first. Although we operated separately, we delivered one team to the customer."

When they first began working with Los Angeles on the new treasury system, Love worked for Wells Fargo's former Government, Education and Non-Profit Division, while Bowman worked for Wachovia's Government and Institutional Banking group.

"After being competitors, working together was easy since we had the same vision for the customer experience," Love explains. "Now we're teammates — both working for Wells Fargo Government and Institutional Banking — the name given our combined team."

With a shared focus on service, and similar products and solutions, Bowman and Love look forward to producing even more successes in the years ahead.

"It's always rewarding when you can deliver new tools and services that make an impact as these have had in Los Angeles," Love proclaims happily. "That's the difference we can make."

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

A longstanding history of mergers

2010-01-30T00:00:24Z

Today we're happy to introduce another guest blogger: Ryan Baum. Ryan is Senior Vice President of Finance in Wells Fargo's Asset Management Group. He's a Supply Corps Reserve Officer in the US Navy, and a member of the Wells Fargo Military Veterans Resource Group.

Ryan's also been an avid coin collector since he was five years old, and is a life member of both the American Numismatic Association and the Carson City Coin Collectors of America. With all that knowledge, we asked him to blog a little bit about the historical background of mergers, and he's been gracious enough to accommodate. We hope you enjoy it. Take it away, Ryan!

This past year has been exciting as we bring together two world class institutions: Wells Fargo and Wachovia.

Inevitably, people ask when things will return to normal. As you can imagine, mergers create lots of work to successfully integrate two firms' financial systems, team members, and culture.

As an historian, whenever I hear that question, I like to point out that Wells Fargo is the result of thousands of mergers now spanning three centuries.

One perfect example is in Utah: the First National Bank of Ogden.

Ogden was a booming town at an important rail junction on the original transcontinental railroad, and only a few dozen miles from where the Golden Spike had been driven. As Utah Territory was blossoming, merchants would often get together to start banks. Two prominent Salt Lake City merchants, William Hopper and Horace Eldredge, founded The First National Bank of Ogden in 1881, even before Utah gained statehood. This bank received charter #2597, and in the mid-1890s, control of the institution moved to David Eccles.

A few years earlier, in 1875, and a little ways down the road, Wells Fargo agent J. E. Dooley had started a bank in Ogden. After a couple of mergers, it became the Utah National Bank of Ogden in 1883 and received charter #2880....

]]> First National and Utah National were fierce, local competitors. In the June 14, 1909 edition of The Ogden Standard, the two firms proudly advertise their services one above the other. First National noted that they were a U.S. Depository bank.

Over time, the Utah National Bank of Ogden realized that First National Bank's customers benefited from its affiliation with other banks as part of a chain — even though, in those days, branch banking had not yet started in earnest. Instead, stockholders would pool banks under a common holding company to form chains or affiliates. This allowed First National customers to access at least some banking services and benefits across a number of cities.

After nearly 40 proud years as an independent institution, the Utah National Bank of Ogden merged with the First National Bank of Ogden on October 2, 1922.

Although financial institutions in the 1920's didn't have to deal with merging giant transaction and record keeping systems, they did have to combine their ledgers, alert customers, work with their affiliates, and change their name. The combined First National and Utah National tipped its hat to both prior institutions naming itself the First & Utah National Bank of Ogden.

However, by using an ampersand, the name implied two still separate institutions, and created an oddity for note collectors like me.

After less than three months, the firm changed its name to the First Utah National Bank of Ogden on January 18, 1923. On January 19, 1926 — almost the third anniversary of that change — the name was shortened again to its original, First National Bank of Ogden.

This humble First National Bank of Ogden would go on to become the core of First Security Corporation, known today as Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, N.A. — still using charter #2597, and still based in Ogden, Utah.

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

Two more states announced for integration: Texas and Kansas

2010-01-28T08:56:47Z

Texas and Kansas customers, you're next!

Wachovia financial centers in Texas and Kansas will become Wells Fargo banking stores in July. These two states follow Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois and Nevada in integrating Wachovia financial centers into Wells Fargo banking stores.

Remember: Until July it's business as usual for our Texas and Kansas customers, and you should all continue banking where you do today.

So what will happen in Texas? The consolidation of Wachovia financial centers and team members into Wells Fargo will result in Texas having more than 700 Wells Fargo banking stores — the largest retail banking network in the Lone Star State!

And in Kansas? Wachovia's eight financial centers will become Wells Fargo banking stores. This will result in five Wells Fargo banking stores in the Kansas City area, two in Wichita and one in Atchison.

As we announced previously, Wachovia's integration to Wells Fargo in the east and southeast is planned through 2011. Integration for business lines continues to progress. Wachovia Securities has changed its name to Wells Fargo Advisors, and Wachovia Mortgage has been integrated into Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

And as always, stay tuned for additional information about the next states to convert!

Hello…is this blog on?

2010-01-15T19:30:30Z

Yes, yes it is. Happy New Year, Blog Readers! Sorry for the lack of new content here recently, but have no fear — we're still around and looking forward to some great things in 2010.

Let me just briefly introduce myself. My name is Doug Caldwell, or Doug C. if you've seen my name in comment responses on the blog. I have now been elevated to the role of "blogger" for this blog. Don't worry, you'll still hear from Ann Marie, Matt, Molly, Wayne and others, but my hope is to serve as another news and information resource to you, our devoted blog readers.

I have been with the bank for almost seven years. I started my career in Corporate Communications, but joined Wells Fargo's Social Media team last January and have been toiling behind the scenes answering your questions and helping develop blog posts. It is my goal to continue to bring you relevant news posts and insightful information about the work that is being done to make sure this merger is seamless to you. Like Matt, I am a Wachovia customer based in North Carolina, so I know what you're going through.

I have talked with a number of merger leaders and shared many of your comments. They are pleased with the engagement on the blog, but they are also working hard to make sure everything is in place before communicating something that might be changed. In other words, please keep asking questions, but know we don't always have the final answer. Even so, we'll be working hard to get them for you.

This Monday, we'll be celebrating and honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day , but will be back here on Tuesday. I look forward to continuing our journey in 2010 and want to thank you for your support and participation during the last year. As always, we hope you'll continue to let us know how we're doing.

The Mailbag: Your deposit account numbers and Envelope-FreeSM ATMs

2009-12-10T18:25:51Z

So, we know you've been reading about our new ATMs rolling out in a few of our states. (Thanks to Frank for posting that one!) We've also had a few of you ask us what's going to happen to your account numbers at the time of conversion.

Well, we're here to give you specific information on both items — so here we go:

First, deposit account numbers. Wachovia customers will get to keep the same account numbers when your state converts (although there will be some exceptions). And you can be sure that you’ll receive plenty of communications before your state converts should there be any changes to your account or your account number.

About Our WebATM Machines:

All of Wells Fargo’s ATMs are web-enabled, which means they’re faster, easier to use and can perform more functions than traditional ATMs.

Along with the standard features of most ATMs, webATMs offer:

Six language screen options (English, Spanish, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Vietnamese)
Voice instructions for the visually impaired in English and Spanish
Customizable fast-cash amounts and MyATM® receipt preferences
Mini-statements
U.S. postage stamps
The highest level of transaction security
Colorful, large font touch-screens that make it easier and more intuitive to navigate from screen to screen

Until that time, though, keep using your checks, debit card and credit card just as you're doing today! If you need to order more checks or if your cards are expiring, go through the normal reordering process.

Now, for more information about those ATMs.

We've started the work to upgrade many of the Wachovia ATM machines in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and North Carolina to our Wells Fargo Envelope-Free^SM ATMs. The change started at the end of September with a pilot in Savannah, Georgia. Altogether we plan to upgrade more than 400 ATMs across the state of Georgia over the next few months.

For those of you who haven't used an Envelope-Free ATM before, you're in for a treat! They're much faster — you can deposit cash (up to 50 bills in different denominations) and checks (stacks up to 30 at a time) directly without an envelope or deposit slip.

There's no need to do any math or key-in a deposit amount, either! The ATM does all the heavy lifting by sorting and counting the cash, and reading and converting your checks into digital images, making the whole process a lot easier.

Plus, because you're not using envelopes, you're helping to reduce waste and save trees. Not bad!

Of course, while these machines are being upgraded as part of the merger, they'll still remain under the Wachovia name until each state goes through its own conversion.

In the meantime, all of you in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and North Carolina, please keep an eye out for the new ATMs...they're coming soon! When they arrive, be sure to try them out and let us know what you think.

Thanks for all of your feedback — please keep it coming!

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.