Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Wells Fargo set for 2000, confident with merger

Laura Schulte and Bryan Waters, the two executives heading Wells Fargo Bank's Las Vegas operations, harbor no fear of Y2K.

To the contrary, they relish their bank's prospects on the eve of the next century.

Fresh from their recently completed integration with Norwest Bancorporation's Nevada operations -- and on the heels of new federal legislation allowing banks to diversify their business -- Wells' senior regional executives emit an air of unbridled confidence.

"The next year is going to be an extremely exciting one for us," said Waters, president of Wells' Southern Nevada operations. "This year's events brought us (Norwest and Wells) together, but 2000 is the time to execute our plans."

In the wake of the Norwest conversion, Wells now offers 70 staffed branches in Southern Nevada.

In stark contrast to the public backlash following Wells' earlier merger with First Interstate Bank, Wells' Nevada President Laura Schulte says both customers and employees have adapted well to the "new Wells Fargo."

Last month, Nevada became only the second state to consolidate Norwest and Wells' daily operations. Bank officials plan to move slowly, and don't expect the national integration of systems to be complete until early 2001.

"Most customers have either had a positive reaction, or not noticed the change at all," said Schulte. "For our customers, the merger means more places to do their banking. Internally, our employees have seen us keep our word about no job losses resulting from the merger."

Wells' shareholders also enter the millennium with reason for good cheer. Wall Street analysts have taken a mostly positive view of the bank's recent merger.

"(Since the merger) their revenue growth has actually been better than anticipated," said Joe Morford, bank analyst with San Francisco-based Dain Rauscher Wessels. "It (the merger) appears to be a good combination, given Norwest's sales power and Wells' productivity."

Morford said Wells' shares have "gradually been inching upward, and are currently trading in the $47 range."

Another reason for that positive market view is the passage into law of the Financial Services Modernization Act. Undoing decades-old legislation restricting banks' from expanding into other sectors, the new law is expected to result in a wide array of new mergers and acquisitions as banks seek to diversify their business.

Schulte praised the new law permitting banks to sell a wider range of products, saying customers stand to benefit from one-stop shopping.

"The change allows us to offer a wider range of services, and it wouldn't surprise me to see the banks teaming up with insurance companies and others to form partnerships," she said. "The new law allows you (as a bank) to think more as a financial services company, rather than just as a traditional savings and loan bank."

Schulte said customers concerned about the sharing of personal information "can opt out at any time simply by stating they don't want their information shared" by Wells and its partners. She said the company never sells customer information to third parties for a profit.

Waters said the current controversy in California involving ATM fees has not affected Wells' Nevada operations. However, he defended the policy of charging non-customers a service fee for using the bank's cash machines.

"Between 90 and 95 percent of all ATM transactions are free, because our customers can use them without a charge," said Waters. "Each machine costs $40,000 to set up, and a lot to maintain. As a whole, we don't build ATMs to act as profit centers. They exist as a service to our customers.

"And it's easy to avoid service fees. Just become a customer."

With only a few weeks left before the arrival of the year 2000, Schulte said there's little sign of any unusual activity among Wells' customers.

"We haven't seen any huge blip in terms of withdrawals," she said. "And as far as the bank is concerned, we are very prepared for the new year and continue to closely monitor operations. Our (Y2K) advice to customers is simply to take the amount of money you would normally need for a long weekend."

Although no branches will be open on Jan. 1, 2000, the bank plans to staff its local operations center to monitor events.

One other New Years' difference: Waters said the bank will likely close two or three branches in close proximity to the Las Vegas Strip on Dec. 31.

"With as many as 700,000 people expected on the Strip, we want to make sure our employees can get home for New Years," he said.

archive