Best Mortgages for Average Credit Score. Best Loans to Refinance Credit Card Debt.Others, like merging all online accounts into one portal with one log in and mobile banking created meaningful improvements to people’s lives. Some ideas, like offering horoscopes and used car sales alongside account histories ended quickly with little enthusiasm. It wanted to create a place where customers could manage all aspects of their financial lives. Wells Fargo’s digital team wasn’t content with having made history developing a new way to bank. One customer in Oregon admitted that “If you had asked me 18 months ago would I be doing online banking and maybe bill paying I would have said no… Ironically, I am a real paper-and-pen oriented person but the debit card and online banking makes it easier to work with two people on one account.” At the same time, Wells Fargo began banking in Oregon, Arizona, Minnesota, and other states. Importantly, online banking customers weren’t just from tech savvy Silicon Valley. In 1999, one million customers used Wells Fargo’s web platform to manage their finances, about 10% of all online banking accounts nationwide. In the software or website debate, the website was winning, and Wells Fargo was leading the way. Prodigy and Quicken (now using its own website connected to the banks) continued as a customer platform into the 2000s, but the tide was turning. We got a real sense of getting something done.”ĭuring those first years, the website rapidly evolved as a way customers could access their account information and perform transactions. One member of the digital team later summarized the experience: “It was a very fast implementation, and it was great for our customers, since they got value-add every six weeks or so… but it was also really great for us. Quickly the bank added new functions and over the next few years customers gained the ability to transfer money in between accounts, set up recurring bill payments, and more. In May 1995, Wells Fargo made history again by being the first bank to use its website as a platform for customers to access their accounts.Īt first, the experience was limited to passively reviewing account activity and statements. The team built new security features and installed new servers to handle the volume of online activity. Another common question asked by customers was: When can I check my account balance on the website?Ī small task force was established to take actions on building better online experiences for customers. It was one of Wells Fargo’s first learning curves in understanding customers’ expectations online. Customers used the built-in feedback button to submit their frustration and disappointment with the slow speed. Unfortunately, with dial-up internet access the norm, the colorful stagecoach pictures downloaded one line at a time and took several minutes to load the whole site. Photo Credit: Wells Fargo Corporate Archives. Launched in 1994, the Wells Fargo website was mainly informational at first. Wells Fargo started offering online account access through Prodigy in 1989, and by the mid-1990s it found that only about 10,000 of its 3.5 million customers used the service. Customers had to use floppy disks and dial up modems to connect to their information. Customers had to buy a software package and pay a monthly fee for their software’s subscription in addition to any fees charged by their bank. The sophisticated system had severe drawbacks. They could also transfer money, read news, play games, and even order groceries online using the community bulletin feature. Customers using the Prodigy service were able to access their bank accounts from the comfort of home for the first time. Prodigy, owned by Sears, offered a secure network that Wells Fargo and other banks and businesses allowed to access their own company computer systems. Other software companies realized that there was potential to become the platform of choice for customers to do their banking. Customers still had to input their transactions by hand, and there was no way for them to easily import a spreadsheet from the bank. Wells Fargo saw the potential for customer convenience, and agreed to sell the software in its branches. It allowed customers to keep detailed financial histories and even print checks. In 1984, technology company Quicken launched its new bookkeeping software. Demonstration of Quicken software’s check register (left) and check printing (right) features in 1984.
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