As
Americans increasingly rely on mobile devices for communications and
financial management, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today
announced it has expanded availability of Wells Fargo Mobile
sm Banking service for iPhone™ and iPod® touch users by making it accessible from Apple’s App Store online.
Wells
Fargo’s secure and innovative mobile banking provides customers with
mobile account access that is fully iPhone and iPod touch-optimized.
This ensures that key banking tasks such as checking account balances,
moving money between Wells Fargo accounts and paying bills can be done
quickly. In addition, Wells Fargo Mobile Banking is integrated with the
iPhone and iPod touch built-in maps feature so customers can search for
the nearest ATM or Wells Fargo banking store with the
touch-of-a-button.
According to Aite Group, a leading
independent research and advisory firm, the mobile banking market is
expected to more than double in 2009 to 21.1 million users in the
United States. That’s expected to increase to 35 million users by 2011.
Aite Group attributes that growth to consumers’ desire to access
financial services remotely, increased mobile device penetration, more
sophisticated devices, faster networks and increasing familiarity with
data applications.
“We’re committed to providing products and
services that meet our customers’ evolving banking needs,” said Secil
Watson, senior vice president, Wells Fargo Internet Services Group.
“We’ve been providing the mobile banking service for nearly two years,
and we know that customers want and demand convenient banking solutions
that help them manage finances while on-the-go. We help them view
accounts and take care of tasks anytime, anywhere -- whether it’s a
customer in a taxi or a customer who realizes at the last minute that
the utility bill needs to be paid before leaving for vacation.”
The free* service allows users to connect to their Wells Fargo accounts in two easy ways:
- Customers who browse the web on their
mobile phone can go to Wells Fargo’s mobile website at WF.com and sign
on to their bank accounts to:
- Check account balances
- Check account activity
- Transfer funds between accounts
- Pay a bill
- Find the nearest ATM or store location
- Customers who send text messages on their phone can send a
text message to the short code “93557” (for “WELLS”) to automatically
receive their balance within moments - without having to log in.
- Type – “bal” to check primary account balance
- Type – “bal all” to check all account balances
- Type – “act” to check recent account activity
“Mobile phones are becoming an integral part of our customers’
lifestyles,” said Arah Erickson, head of Wells Fargo’s Retail Mobile
Banking. “People are expecting to do so much more on their phones:
check e-mail, get directions at a maps site or find a restaurant.
That’s why we’re seeing ever increasing adoption of mobile banking. We
have seen growth beyond our expectations.”
Wells Fargo customers
use the mobile website service an average of six times per month and
text banking customers send a balance request an average of 19 times a
month.
The Wells Fargo Mobile service has a number of practical uses:
-
Consumers can review their account balances while standing in the store
checkout aisle. This option can help ease anxiety about making a large
or special purchase.
- Travelers can search for the nearest ATM
location “on the spot.” This helps save time for travelers who want to
find an ATM quickly or are in a hurry.
- Working parents can
pay a bill while attending their sons’ or daughters’ soccer practice.
This allows parents to address their “to do” lists in real-time.
-
College students, who have grown up relying on their mobile phones, can
check account balances while walking to the campus bookstore. To ensure
there is enough money
The free* Wells Fargo Mobile Banking app is available from Apple’s
App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
For
those customers who use a BlackBerry® smartphone, a WF.com icon can be
placed on the home screen for “one-click” access to Wells Fargo
anytime. Just go to WF.com from the BlackBerry® browser and follow the
simple steps to download the icon.
Mobile Banking is covered by
the Wells Fargo Online Security Guarantee. Mobile banking sessions have
the same layered security approach and technology as all sessions on
wellsfargo.com. In text banking sessions, there’s never more
information in a text message than would be found on an ATM receipt.
About Wells Fargo
In 2007, Wells Fargo became the first major financial services
company in the nation to offer consumer and small business customers
both browser- and text-based account access via their mobile devices.
Wells
Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with
$1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments,
mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over
12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and
internationally.
*Mobile carrier's text messaging and web access charges may apply.
The
BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are
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