Wells Fargo & Co. plans to convert its tri-state area Wachovia branches to the Wells Fargo brand by March 2011, promising fresh legs for the franchise it corralled as the economy faltered.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo acquired Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia in December 2008. The only gap lacking in its continental U.S. footprint is a wide corridor running from most of New England save Connecticut through upstate New York, then west of the Appalachians and across the Mississippi River to Tornado Alley.
Wells Fargo has already converted branches in Colorado. Joe Kirk, Wells Fargo”™s regional president for New York and Connecticut, said Wells Fargo will flip the switch on the conversions in local markets in March 2011.
When it does, the combined company will have work to do to regain some lost ground if federal figures in Connecticut are any indication. Between June 2009 and a year earlier, Wachovia saw its deposits erode in wealthy Fairfield County by $61 million, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
That amounts to a loss of nearly 2.5 percentage points of market share, vaulting JPMorgan Chase vault past Wachovia the No. 2 slot after Bridgeport-based People”™s United Financial Inc.
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That occurred even as Fairfield County depositors stashed an additional $4.3 billion ”“ an incredible 18 percent increase in deposits ”“ into their bank accounts as the credit crisis sent them scurrying out of risky investments.
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The bank has more than 30 branches in Fairfield County, about half of its total in Connecticut where it has 1,500 employees in all.
Wachovia fared far better in neighboring Westchester County, N.Y., where branches reported an impressive $890 million gain in deposits to $7.3 billion total, providing a talking point for Wells Fargo and Wachovia executives nationally and locally who tout Wells Fargo”™s record of focused customer service and cross-selling as competitive strengths.
“The first year we spent a lot of time on the plumbing and wiring, getting teams in place,” said John Stumpf, executive vice president of community banking for Wells Fargo, in a conference call with investment analysts reviewing the company”™s 2009 results. “You will see the big push from a signage perspective in the East later this year and next year. But even before that ”¦ we are increasing the number of bankers in the stores. We are learning from each other about great sales and great service.
“On the commercial side, if you look at the legacy Wachovia business in the middle market ”¦ that business we like a lot and we are making good progress there,” Stumpf continued. “The wholesale side happens to be the cross-sell champions in the company. So we have a new business model in the East in place this quarter. We are seeing good progress. We are working together with each other. Of all the things I worry about, that”™s about the last one.”
Despite Wachovia”™s recent deposit record in Connecticut, Ring said his commercial group did not lose a single customer during the credit crisis, and said the Wells Fargo brand is getting a welcome reception in the market.
“We want (competing banks) to see a stagecoach in every one of their (customers”™) offices,” Ring said.
