Wells Fargo customer account scandal is becoming one of the top scandals that puts a blemish on the nation’s largest banks’ reputation and one that will not clear anytime soon. The bank agreed to settle a federal complaint of $185 million after accusations of creating two million fraudulent accounts for its customers, (McGregor, 2016). In the last few years, the bank fired over 5,000 of its employees over the scheme. However, peculiar is the fact that Wells Fargo has not refuted or accepted the claims, but agreed to pay the fine, (McGregor, 2016). It further added that it would implement new policies to prevent similar issues in the future. Therefore, the questions remains on whether these allegations allude to the fact that the company is involved in fraudulent activities, (Sanchez, 2016).
Over the last years, Wells Fargo has built up a reputation detaching itself from the likes of Wall Street by putting their customers first before money. However, one cannot help but think that Wells Fargo put money before customers as their aggressive sales goals led to the opening of unauthorized accounts without customer knowledge. They also often racked up fees and other charges to increase income, (Sanchez, 2016).
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The incentive-driven culture that drives the banking industry is the primary motive behind the customer-account scheme. However, according to Insider’s business editor, the plot to close and open unauthorized accounts do not boost a bank’s profits, illustrating that the financial institution is a clear example of the perils of aggressive sales measures, (McGregor, 2016). Moreover, despite firing over 5,000 employees in the past five years, there is an imminent need to conduct in-depth investigations into the bank’s sales and marketing strategies.
In conclusion, the issue of fake customer accounts opening should be taken as a serious problem raised among customers whose trust in financial institutions keep crumbling, (Sanchez, 2016). Furthermore, the ongoing Wells Fargo scandal mirrors the will of consumers to demand accountability from senior management.
References
McGregor, J. (2016 September, 16). Wells Fargo’s terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week. The Washington Post. Retrieved from;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2016/09/16/wells-fargos- terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-week/
Sanchez, C. (2016 September, 11). Why Wells Fargo keeps getting into trouble. Business Insider. Retrieved from’
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-wells-fargo-keeps-getting-into-trouble-2016-9
