Business Editors
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2001
Only U.S. Financial Services Company to Be in Top 10 for Both
Online Brokerage and Online Banking
Meeting its goal to become a leading online broker and one-stop source for financial services, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today announced it has been named 9th overall among Gomez, Inc.'s Fall 2001 Internet Broker Scorecard, up from 43rd in last year's ranking. Gomez, a highly respected consultancy, measures the quality of Internet services and provides companies with advice and insight. Its internationally recognized scorecards set the standard for ranking a broad range of Internet offerings.
"In just one year, we reached our goal of being listed as a top online broker by introducing services like Single Sign-On and ShareBuilder, giving our customers the best of both online brokerage and banking all in one place," said Shelley Freeman, executive vice president of Wells Fargo's Online Brokerage. "As the only U.S. financial services company to make the Gomez top 10 for both online brokerage and banking, we've hit a significant milestone in realizing our vision of becoming the one-stop resource for all our customers' financial needs."
In the scorecard, Gomez recognized Wells Fargo's Portfolio Tracker and Tax Tracker tools for allowing Online Brokerage customers to manage their portfolios more efficiently. Usability also contributed to Wells Fargo's high ranking in addition to user-friendly features like Single Sign-On, which allows customers to view all of their accounts from one page. Improvement in Wells Fargo's online application was also highlighted.
Wells Fargo provides investment and banking services in one easy-to-use, convenient place. With one log-in, customers can access complete portfolios, conduct online trades, check account balances, plan for retirement, pay bills, move money and put money away for their child's education, all in one spot. Milestones over the past year include:
-- Online viewing and access to nearly one million full service, trust and investment management customers. -- Single Sign-On: A service designed for faster navigation, Single Sign-On allows Wells Fargo customers to enter their password in one convenient location for access to all of their account balances, loans and investments. American Banker has praised the service for being a model for the banking industry. -- WellsChoice: This unique brokerage account allows clients to trade and invest online or offline with the guidance of a financial consultant. -- Online Brokerage Tools: Aimed at helping its self-directed online investing customers manage their capital gains tax liability and reduce the amount of time spent preparing tax forms, these two tools make it easier for Wells Fargo Online Brokerage customers to manage their portfolios based on tax considerations and their personal preferences. -- Portfolio Tracker: The Portfolio Tracker enables customers to monitor their investments and receive alerts based on their personal gain/loss percentage targets, their tax rates, realized and unrealized gains/losses for their accounts, and potential upcoming tax-related events. -- Tax Tracker: This tax management tool not only helps customers complete the IRS Schedule D, but also helps customers manage ongoing capital gains tax liability throughout the year -- not just at tax time -- and track realized gains and losses on a running Schedule D Worksheet -- updated with every sale. -- Wells ShareBuilder(TM): Removing many of the hurdles involved in investing, Wells ShareBuilder is an easy-to-use online investing service that enables people to invest in stocks automatically in regular, dollar-based amounts. In September alone, 4,700 ShareBuilder accounts were opened, bringing the total number up to 31,575. -- Wells Fargo's brokerage site was recently ranked 5th Best Brokerage Site and received the highest designation of "Excellent" by Dalbar's WebMonitor First Quarter 2001 Top 25 Brokerage Sites report.
Wells Fargo was the first financial services company in the U.S. to launch Internet banking services for its customers in 1995 (www.wellsfargo.com), and has been online since 1989. The company has since blazed the trail for interactive tools and features with a wide range of easy-to-use online customer services.
Wells Fargo was also the first major bank in the U.S. to provide a full line of brokerage services, investment management, trust and private banking all under one roof. Wells Fargo Online Brokerage is provided by Wells Fargo Investments, LLC (WFI). Customers can trade stocks, options, and more than 7,000 mutual funds online, and get access to news, research, free unlimited real time quotes, alerts, and watchlists, with 24/7 customer support. For investors seeking assistance from a full-service broker, WFI has approximately 1,200 financial consultants nationwide and is the nation's 8th largest broker-dealer.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo and Company (NYSE:WFC) is a $298 billion diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance services through 5,400 stores, its Internet site (www.wellsfargo.com) and other distribution channels across North America as well as internationally.
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