Overview

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified financial services company with $1.7 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 as a scrappy outfit in Wild West during the mid-19th centruy California Gold Rush. Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance services through more than 8,700 locations, more than 12,500 ATMs, online (wellsfargo.com), and mobile devices. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco, but it has a decentralized structure that allows every local Wells Fargo store be its own headquarters.

Wells Fargo has over 70 million customers. That is one in every three U.S. households. It has approximately 266,000 team members in 36 countries across more than 90 businesses. At the end of first quarter 2015, Wells Fargo ranked fourth in assets among U.S. banks and was the world’s most valuable bank by market capitalization. In 2014, Wells Fargo was named “Most Respected Bank” by Barron’s magazine, “Most Admired” among the world’s largest banks by Fortune magazine, and “Best U.S. Bank” by The Banker magazine. The Chronicle of Philanthropy ranked Wells Fargo’s corporate cash giving in the top two among all U.S. companies each of the past two years.

What Are Wells Fargo's Checking and Savings Accounts Like?

Wells Fargo's checking has a $50 minimum opening deposit. Monthly service fees range from $10 to $30 depending on the type of account. However, you can avoid the fee by using your debit card to make 10 purchases, making $500 in direct deposits, or keeping a $1,500 minimum daily balance. These requirements are unusually easy to meet for a major bank, which makes it a good account for people with low to moderate incomes. 

Users should be aware of:

• High out-of-network ATM fees and that Wells Fargo's ATM network is not that large.
• There is also a 3% fee on international debit card transactions.
• A $35 overdraft fee
• A $12.50 fee per transfer from a linked savings account for overdraft protection.

The savings account has a $25 minimum opening deposit. It also has a $5 monthly service fee, which is waived if you maintain a $300 minumum daily balance, have recurring saving options, or if you're under 18.

Don't expect much in the way of interest: the APY is only 0.01%. On the other hand, Wells Fargo's automated savings feature, and the ability to transfer as little as a $1 a day from your checking account make this savings account easier and less intimidating to use. 

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Wells Fargo?

We like this:

• Customers with substantial balances ($1,500 and $5,000) receive free checking and a higher APY of 0.05%.
• Low daily transfers to its savings account.
• Easy to get checking and saving fees waived.
• Comprehensive banking and financial services under one roof.
• Excellent customer service.
• Wide geographic coverage in the U.S.

We're not so thrilled about this:

• High fees for international travelers. Unless you have $250,000 in a Premier Checking Account, expect to pay 3% foreign transaction fee and $5 for using an ATM outside of the U.S.
• Customers with lower balances recieve laughable interest rates.
• Out-of-network ATM fee of $2.50
• Not a huge ATM network