Wells Fargo Launches New Online Brokerage Site and Other New Technolog

Wells Fargo Launches New Online Brokerage Site and Other New Technologies and Services to Enhance Customer Convenience

    Business Editors/Banking Writers

    SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2005--

    One-Stop Mutual Fund Center is Among the Seamlessly Integrated Online Offerings Bolstering 21st Century Financial Services Leadership

    Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) - the #1 Internet bank according to Watchfire GomezPro and the only U.S. bank-owned brokerage to make Smart Money's 10th annual list of full-service brokers, second behind Merrill Lynch, today announced three new technologies and services to enhance customer convenience and relationships:

--	First, an improved online brokerage site tightly linked with other financial products and services from Wells Fargo, making it quicker, easier and less expensive for customers to make and manage investment decisions.
--	Second, a state-of-the-art internal portal for online customer service. The portal will help Wells Fargo bankers gain a simple, cohesive and transparent view of service data, which will allow them to deliver the right information when, where and how customers want it.
--	Third, a state-of-the-art internal portal to enable multiple specialists and bankers (i.e. banking, brokerage and trust) to collaborate more seamlessly to service customers with complex money management and investment concerns.

    "For nearly a decade, we have used the Internet to enhance customer convenience," says Avid Modjtabai, executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo's Internet Services Group. "One of the ways we do this is by helping them manage and organize their finances using our innovative and integrated technological solutions."

    The three new Wells Fargo online technologies in detail:

    1. One-Stop Banking and Brokerage (through Wells Fargo Investments, LLC)

    Ranked #4 by Watchfire GomezPro (November 2004) for its full-service online brokerage offering, and WellsTrade ranking #6 on the Watchfire GomezPro Scorecard (Q3 2004), Wells Fargo has built in added convenience for both full-service and self-directed customers on its new brokerage site. Among the enhancements:

    -- New Online Mutual Fund Center - With Morningstar(R) ratings to
    help customers research funds; improved screening and
    comparison tools; and comprehensive fund profiles.

    -- Seamless Integration - Easy online access to banking
    (checking, savings, mortgage and credit) and brokerage
    accounts using a single sign-on and one username and password;
    easy navigation, which allows for convenient funds transfer
    between brokerage and banking accounts.

    -- Improved Customization - Lets customers configure their online
    overview page to display the market data and account
    information that is most important to them.

    -- Lower WellsTrade(R) Commissions - Starting last week, online
    equity commissions were reduced to $19.95. In addition,
    customers with significantly higher combined balances with
    Wells Fargo Investments or qualified bank accounts such as
    checking, savings, CDs, FDIC IRA and Portfolio Management
    Accounts can get rates as low as $14.95.

    "Whether customers invest with the help of a Wells Fargo Investments financial consultant or manage their investment decisions independently with a WellsTrade account, they will now have access to an easy-to-use and seamlessly integrated site that links both banking and brokerage services," says Rachel Perkel of Wells Fargo Investments.

    2. The Desktop That Delivers Improved Customer Service

    A leader in online customer service, Wells Fargo is leveraging the latest portal technology to deliver a simplified and fully integrated customer service desktop that provides bankers with a customer-centric view for improved service.
    Part of an internal pilot program, the online customer service portal:

    -- Presents a consolidated view of the customer, delivering the
    right information at the right time. The online customer
    service desktop is organized to mirror a customer's typical
    call with a banker; that way, bankers aren't jumping from
    screen to screen to pull information they need when servicing
    customers. The result: more effective interactions with
    customers and better customer experiences.

    -- Creates a single desktop that streamlines banker processes,
    complexity and training while accelerating access to
    applications and information.

    -- Boosts efficiencies by standardizing and leveraging business
    services and portlets across the enterprise.

    "We've integrated the various product-serving applications into one seamless organized banker desktop," says Modjtabai. "The objective is to provide all the information a banker needs at the relevant time while providing a world-class customer experience."

    3. Simplifying and Enriching Client Interactions

    Wells Fargo's new portal for financial consultants and private client advisors allows each client to benefit from the breadth of the company's services and from the way that those services are integrated into one plan, headed by the relationship manager, who can be a central point of contact for customer interactions and resolving issues. The ultimate objective is to leverage technology to enable a team encompassing banking, brokerage and trust to service clients with complex needs.
    To improve service, Wells Fargo's technology team implemented a service-oriented architecture (SOA) on BEA WebLogic Platform 8.1. The SOA links all existing data sources and applications that are related to sales and customer support and exposes them to bank staff via a unified portal. Financial consultants and private client advisors will now be able to access a record of client contact with other specialists, allowing them to provide more customized and integrated service and advice to clients with multiple account relationships.
    Built and launched within a year, the SOA will actually enable Wells Fargo to extend the usable life of its older information technology investments by allowing systems that had been buried in the back office to present data on demand via the Web to bankers who can use it to make fast, smart decisions.

    An Efficient, Effective Technology Partnership

    BEA's partnership with Wells Fargo began when the company was seeking outside help to build its internal portal for commercial customers. In 2000, Wells Fargo used BEA technology to help launch the CEO(R) portal (Commercial Electronic Office(R) portal), providing business customers with consolidated self-service access to more than 30 banking services - including treasury management, credit and loans, foreign exchange, institutional investing and insurance. Four years later, the CEO portal has been embraced by more than 60 percent of all Wells Fargo commercial customers.
    In addition to playing a role in the re-engineering of CEO portal, BEA also was instrumental in helping to build iCEO, an internal portal at Wells Fargo that is centered on the customer's needs and connects all of the bank's disparate sales, service and delivery tools through a single sign-on. Both the CEO portal and iCEO access the same back-office systems and databases.
    "When we first engaged with Wells Fargo, we made a commitment to support one of the most agile and customer-focused financial services companies in the industry," said Mark Carges, chief technology officer, BEA Systems. "Over time, BEA's technology has enabled the seamless integration of Wells Fargo's online channel to better support banker, broker and customer needs, building an effective and competitive bridge between the bank's business objectives and IT."

    About Wells Fargo & Company

    Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $428 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance to more than 23 million customers from more than 6,000 stores and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only "Aaa"- rated bank in the United States.

    Investment Products - Not FDIC Insured - No Bank Guarantee - May Lose Value

    Brokerage services available through Wells Fargo Investments, LLC (member SIPC), a non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company.

    Financial Consultants are registered representatives of Wells Fargo Investments.

    Contact Wells Fargo Investments for a mutual fund's current prospectus, which contains more complete information on investment objectives, charges, fees, risks, and expenses. Please read and consider the information in the prospectus carefully before investing.

    $14.95 is the AssetReward commission rate and applies up to 1,000 shares; an additional $.01 per share applies for trades over 1,000 shares. Standard commission for online trades is $19.95 for the first 1,000 shares, with an additional $.015 per share over 1,000 shares. See wellsfargo.com for further details on fees and commissions, including how to qualify for the AssetReward rate.

--30--KL/ny*

CONTACT: Media: For Wells Fargo & Company Wendy Grover, 415-396-5905

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING SOFTWARE INTERNET E-COMMERCE PRODUCT SOURCE: Wells Fargo & Company

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