5 ms·

Wells Fargo has been in the news for one fiasco or another for 20 years. How are they still in business? Their reputation is terrible. I guess people don’t talk

Wells Fargo has been in the news for one fiasco or another for 20 years. How are they still in business? Their reputation is terrible. I guess people don’t talk about their banks that much.

lallysingh 7y ago
Momentum.
kumarm 7y ago
Been wellfargo customer for 20+ years. Good Service, Local branches to walk into. I believe issues like these are exception cases.
- raincom 7y ago
  Wellsfargo is good if you are not running into edge cases. In other words, if you are paying cards, mortgage payments 15 days in advance, if you are keeping nice bank balance in your checking accounts, no issues. The moment you try to do things per the book, they'll screw you.
- chillwaves 7y ago
  Why does Wells Fargo keep getting caught engaging in illegal and/or fraudulent activity? What does Wells Fargo offer that a local credit union doesn't?
- colejohnson66 7y ago
  I’m curious why this is being downvoted? Are people here really downvoting someone because they haven’t had a bad experience at a certain place you don’t like?
  - detaro 7y ago
    No, because they extrapolate from their experience that all the problems have to be "exceptional cases", when there's good arguments that a lot of problems at WF are not that, but systemic problems and outright fraud causing damage to millions of people.
maximente 7y ago
well, that and moving large sums of money isn't quite as easy as say changing email providers
- vageli 7y ago
  > well, that and moving large sums of money isn't quite as easy as say changing email providers In what ways? If you close your account they need to give you all of your money at the time of closure. Having worked at a bank, I can tell you that they are scared by how mobile millennials are with their money. They will literally follow the interest rates. With most millennials using credit and not debit/ach, it becomes even easier to move to a new banking provider.
  - maximente 7y ago
    thanks for your reply, i'm truly interested in this as i have money stuck in a low interest checking account that i want to move to Simple. i'm in the US. if i have $50K in a checking account they're obligated to write me a check (?) for $50K if i tell them i want to close my account? if that's correct, does the amount matter? when do AML/KYC laws kick in? will these online focused banks accept new accounts funded with checks over $10K?
    - mixmastamyk 7y ago
      Just do a ACH balance transfer, move your bills, then close the account. No need to be driving a paper check around. If you'll think billing problems will occur, break the transfer into two chunks and keep both accounts open for two months or so until satisfied.
    - Youden 7y ago
      For large amounts of money, I think the best way is to open your new account, wire transfer (not ACH or check) the money to your new account, confirm that the funds are received, then close the old account. This will likely cost ~$25 depending on your old bank but it avoids the hold periods you'll otherwise get with a check (even a cashier's check) or ACH transfer, as well as issues with moving physical cash. You don't need to worry about AML/KYC laws, those are the bank's problem. In fact, using smaller transfers to avoid hitting the $10k threshold is illegal.
mixmastamyk 7y ago
This is not the same trustworthy WF we grew up with on the west coast. After they merged with the Minneapolis bank, it has been one scandal and dark pattern after another.
gumby 7y ago
Wells, Fargo, Bank of America were purchased by shady operators specifically for their reputations, which the acquirers have been slowly spending down since. The good news is that all the good banks have already been strip-mined so that there won't be a second wave of this. The bad news is that all that's left in the US is shitty banks. I use a credit union for my personal money, but for my companies SVB is about the best I can find. At least they don't engage in shenanigans like this.
- pdonis 7y ago
  > I use a credit union for my personal money, but for my companies SVB is about the best I can find. I totally agree about credit unions vs. banks; at this point I am leery about dealing with any financial institution that doesn't have "Federal Credit Union" in its name. I think most credit unions will work with you to open a business account if you are already known to them as a personal member.
  - gumby 7y ago
    > I think most credit unions will work with you to open a business account if you are already known to them as a personal member. True, but they are really set up for small businesses, not startups.
    - pdonis 7y ago
      > they are really set up for small businesses, not startups Hm, yes, fair point.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
nickpsecurity 7y ago
The big banks are some of the owners of America. I'm talking they're paid up huge with the right people with most other sectors depending on them, too. You can tell whose on the list in some way by looking at who made the bail out happen with the biggest amounts after the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs appears to have led that with the Treasury head being an ex-CEO. With that level of subversion, they can get away with a lot. Previously, they got a trillion dollars or so in bailouts, some billions in fines, little control of how they spent the bailouts, and criminal immunity for what led to it. Then, banks like Wells Fargo kept pulling every scam they could on the taxpayer with basically no response from the government. Yeah, they all own the government exploiting it to their benefit. Expect them to do more since it's their country. You always know by looking at who pays [massively] and who gets paid [massively] in unjust ways.

Wells Fargo has been in the news for one fiasco or another for 20 years. How are they still in business? Their reputation is terrible. I guess people don’t talk about their banks that much.

lallysingh 7y ago

Momentum.

kumarm 7y ago

Been wellfargo customer for 20+ years. Good Service, Local branches to walk into. I believe issues like these are exception cases.

raincom 7y ago
Wellsfargo is good if you are not running into edge cases. In other words, if you are paying cards, mortgage payments 15 days in advance, if you are keeping nice bank balance in your checking accounts, no issues. The moment you try to do things per the book, they'll screw you.
chillwaves 7y ago
Why does Wells Fargo keep getting caught engaging in illegal and/or fraudulent activity? What does Wells Fargo offer that a local credit union doesn't?
colejohnson66 7y ago
I’m curious why this is being downvoted? Are people here really downvoting someone because they haven’t had a bad experience at a certain place you don’t like?
- detaro 7y ago
  No, because they extrapolate from their experience that all the problems have to be "exceptional cases", when there's good arguments that a lot of problems at WF are not that, but systemic problems and outright fraud causing damage to millions of people.

maximente 7y ago

well, that and moving large sums of money isn't quite as easy as say changing email providers

vageli 7y ago
> well, that and moving large sums of money isn't quite as easy as say changing email providers In what ways? If you close your account they need to give you all of your money at the time of closure. Having worked at a bank, I can tell you that they are scared by how mobile millennials are with their money. They will literally follow the interest rates. With most millennials using credit and not debit/ach, it becomes even easier to move to a new banking provider.
- maximente 7y ago
  thanks for your reply, i'm truly interested in this as i have money stuck in a low interest checking account that i want to move to Simple. i'm in the US. if i have $50K in a checking account they're obligated to write me a check (?) for $50K if i tell them i want to close my account? if that's correct, does the amount matter? when do AML/KYC laws kick in? will these online focused banks accept new accounts funded with checks over $10K?
  - mixmastamyk 7y ago
    Just do a ACH balance transfer, move your bills, then close the account. No need to be driving a paper check around. If you'll think billing problems will occur, break the transfer into two chunks and keep both accounts open for two months or so until satisfied.
  - Youden 7y ago
    For large amounts of money, I think the best way is to open your new account, wire transfer (not ACH or check) the money to your new account, confirm that the funds are received, then close the old account. This will likely cost ~$25 depending on your old bank but it avoids the hold periods you'll otherwise get with a check (even a cashier's check) or ACH transfer, as well as issues with moving physical cash. You don't need to worry about AML/KYC laws, those are the bank's problem. In fact, using smaller transfers to avoid hitting the $10k threshold is illegal.

mixmastamyk 7y ago

This is not the same trustworthy WF we grew up with on the west coast. After they merged with the Minneapolis bank, it has been one scandal and dark pattern after another.

gumby 7y ago

Wells, Fargo, Bank of America were purchased by shady operators specifically for their reputations, which the acquirers have been slowly spending down since. The good news is that all the good banks have already been strip-mined so that there won't be a second wave of this. The bad news is that all that's left in the US is shitty banks. I use a credit union for my personal money, but for my companies SVB is about the best I can find. At least they don't engage in shenanigans like this.

pdonis 7y ago
> I use a credit union for my personal money, but for my companies SVB is about the best I can find. I totally agree about credit unions vs. banks; at this point I am leery about dealing with any financial institution that doesn't have "Federal Credit Union" in its name. I think most credit unions will work with you to open a business account if you are already known to them as a personal member.
- gumby 7y ago
  > I think most credit unions will work with you to open a business account if you are already known to them as a personal member. True, but they are really set up for small businesses, not startups.
  - pdonis 7y ago
    > they are really set up for small businesses, not startups Hm, yes, fair point.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

nickpsecurity 7y ago

The big banks are some of the owners of America. I'm talking they're paid up huge with the right people with most other sectors depending on them, too. You can tell whose on the list in some way by looking at who made the bail out happen with the biggest amounts after the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman Sachs appears to have led that with the Treasury head being an ex-CEO. With that level of subversion, they can get away with a lot. Previously, they got a trillion dollars or so in bailouts, some billions in fines, little control of how they spent the bailouts, and criminal immunity for what led to it. Then, banks like Wells Fargo kept pulling every scam they could on the taxpayer with basically no response from the government. Yeah, they all own the government exploiting it to their benefit. Expect them to do more since it's their country. You always know by looking at who pays [massively] and who gets paid [massively] in unjust ways.