Wells Fargo
In July 2015, Wells Fargo became the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, edging past ICBC. Wells Fargo surpassed Citigroup Inc. to become the third-largest U.S. bank by assets at the end of 2015. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit cards.
In 2015, Wells Fargo ranked 10th on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest public companies in the world and ranked 30th on the Forbes 500 list of largest companies in the United States, according to Fortune 500 (2015). In 2015, the company was ranked the 22nd most admired company in the world, and the 7th most respected company in the world.
As of October 2015, the company had a credit rating of AA-. However, for a brief period in 2007, the company was the only AAA-rated bank.
The firm’s primary U.S. operating subsidiary is national bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which designates its main office as Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Wells Fargo in its present form is a result of a merger between San Francisco–based Wells Fargo & Company and Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998 and the subsequent 2008 acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia. Following the mergers, the company transferred its headquarters to Wells Fargo’s headquarters in San Francisco and merged its operating subsidiary with Wells Fargo’s operating subsidiary in Sioux Falls.
The Community Banking segment includes Regional Banking, Diversified Products and the Consumer Deposits groups, as well as Wells Fargo Customer Connection (formerly Wells Fargo Phone Bank, Wachovia Direct Access, the National Business Banking Center and Credit Card Customer Service).
Wells Fargo also has around 2,000 stand-alone mortgage branches throughout the country.
There are many mini-branches located inside of other buildings, which are almost exclusively grocery stores, that usually contain ATMs, basic teller services, and, space permitting, an office for private meetings with customers.
Wells Fargo operates under Charter #1, the first national bank charter issued in the United States.
Traditionally, acquiring banks assume the earliest issued charter number. Thus, the first charter passed from First National Bank of Philadelphia to Wells Fargo through its 2008 acquisition of Wachovia, which had inherited it through one of its many acquisitions.