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Case Study

Wells Fargo: When eight wasn't great

By Didier Cossin and Mopesola Ogunsulire

5 pages

April 2022

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Reference: IMD-7-2361

When former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf pushed his employees to sell eight Wells Fargo products per customer through cross-selling – he no doubt assumed it would be done with customers’ consent. Instead, under pressure to meet aggressive and unrealistic sales targets, Community Bank staff opened 3.5 million bogus deposit and card accounts without customers’ knowledge or permission. The scandal destroyed the bank’s reputation for sound management and led to the Federal Reserve capping the bank’s assets at $2 trillion.

Learning Objective

Highlights important challenges in governance and risk management in a large universal bank

Keywords

Cross-selling, Fake Account, Risk Management

Settings

Northern America, United States of America
Wells Fargo, Finance and Insurance, Banking
2002-2016

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

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This case study is part of a series

Barclays: Culture is more than just a word
Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Accommodating ATMs
Credit Suisse: Lackadaisical about risk
Wells Fargo: When eight wasn't great

This case study is part of a series

Barclays: Culture is more than just a word
Commonwealth Bank of Australia: Accommodating ATMs
Credit Suisse: Lackadaisical about risk
Wells Fargo: When eight wasn't great

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