Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) Chairman and CEO John Stumpf said the bank is taking action to address wrongful sales practices and the board has the tools to hold him and other senior leadership responsible.
Testifying before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee Stumpf said that the bank never directed team members to provide products and services to clients that they did not need or want.
“I accept full responsibility for all unethical sales practices in our retail banking business, and I am fully committed to fixing this issue, strengthening our culture, and taking the necessary actions to restore our customers’ trust,” Stumpf said.
Earlier this month, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million by regulators for opening deposit and credit-card accounts that weren’t authorized by customers. The bank also said it would pay another $5 million in customer remediation and took responsibility for clients receiving products and services they didn’t ask for.
To ensure no further incidences, Stumpf said the bank would end product sales goals in the retail division; send customers a confirmation email within an hour of opening any deposit account and an acknowledgement letter after submitting a credit card application.
It will also contact all deposit customers across the country, including those who have already received refunded fees, to invite them to review their accounts with their banker and calling the credit card customers identified in the review to confirm whether they need or want their credit card.
It has also expanded the scope of its customer account review to include 2009 and 2010.
