At least three employees described a tactic known as the “mid-session review” in which Wells Fargo bankers sitting down with customers would excuse themselves in order to meet with managers, who were supposed to review the customers’ files and figure out what additional products the employees should sell them on top of the business they came to take care of.
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So I can imagine what havoc the Wells Fargo fraud victims have gone through to correct their credit reports.
Two days after telling the bank’s CEO, John Stumpf, that he was “gutless”, Warren joined seven other senators in calling for a Department of Labor investigation into Wells Fargo’s firing of more than 5,000 employees.
The news that Wells Fargo employees opened thousands of unauthorized bank and credit card accounts for existing customers may make you wonder if you got scammed, too.
Bado also reached out to an anonymous ethics hotline – the same line that Wells Fargo’s CEO John Stumpf referenced on Tuesday when he spoke to U.S. Senators.
Stumpf resigned as the Twelfth District’s representative to the Federal Advisory Council (FAC), the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said on Thursday. “Your definition of “accountable” is to push the blame to your low-level employees”. Additionally the bank must reimburse all those who were charged bogus fees to the tune of $1.5 million. Its name became synonymous with Wells Fargo stagecoaches and the Pony Express.
“What is particularly disappointing to us is that we and investors have long held Wells Fargo management in very high regard – they have been smart contrarian thinkers and made thoughtful decisions”, JPMorgan analyst Vivek Juneja writes.
“I was stunned when I learned about the breadth and duration of this fraud”, the OH lawmaker said in his opening remarks. This official confirmed that the bank’s strategy for dealing with whistle-blowers was to find ways to fire them “in retaliation for shining light”.
“I am deeply sorry that we failed to fulfill our responsibility to our customers, to our team members, and to the American public”, he said in his prepared remarks. The culture of the bank has been brought into question, with aggressive targets, sales quotas and rewards for bank staff blamed for the episode. The bureau settled with the bank for $185 million over the phony accounts earlier in September, but it also cited the bank’s alleged abusive labor practices.
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Ken Sweet covers banking and consumer financial affairs for The Associated Press.
