Wells Fargo & Co. (nyse: WFC) is a diversified financial services company in the United States with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the 5th largest bank in the US by assets and the 4th largest bank by market cap. It is the only bank in the United States to be rated AAA by S&P.

Wells Fargo was named as "The World's Safest US Bank" based on long-term foreign currency ratings from Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's and the long-term bank deposit ratings from Moody's Investors Service for the year 2007.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Wells Fargo is a result of an acquisition of California-based Wells Fargo & Co. by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998. The new company chose to keep the name Wells Fargo, to capitalize on the long history of the nationally-recognized Wells Fargo name and its trademark stagecoach (the company's slogan, "The Next Stage," is a nod to the company's wagons-west motif). After the acquisition, the parent company moved its headquarters to San Francisco.

As of 2008, Wells Fargo has 5,983 retail branches, 3,327 banking branches, 160,900 employees and over 23 million customers.

On October 3, 2008, Wells Fargo announced it had agreed to acquire Wachovia for $15.1 billion in stock. Previously, Wachovia had announced talks with Citigroup on September 29 to sell off its core banking business for $2.2 billion, retaining Wachovia Securities and other brokerage services, in a deal brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Wachovia prefers the Wells Fargo deal, as it keeps the banking and brokerage businesses together. Citigroup is exploring their legal options, demanding that Wachovia and Wells Fargo cease discussions, citing an exclusivity agreement between Citigroup and Wachovia.

Lines of business

Wells Fargo offers a range of financial services in over 80 different business lines. In addition, the company claims to be one of the most "integrated" of financial services companies. For example, Wells Fargo investment employees sit in retail locations.Fact: date=August 2007

Wells Fargo delineates three different business segments when reporting results: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Consumer Finance. This is unlike many other financial services companies which provide more detail about particular businesses or product lines. Fact: date=August 2007

Community banking

The Community Banking segment includes Regional Banking, Wealth Management Group, Diversified Products and the Consumer Deposits groups. Wells Fargo consumer clients are encouraged to purchase multiple-product packages offering preferred client discounts. Examples of such packages are:

• "Wells Fargo Premium Membership Account" tied to payroll direct deposit from a participating employer;
• "Wells Fargo Complete Advantage Account" tied to balances in multiple deposit accounts, loans, or a home mortgage;
• "Wells Fargo Portfolio Management Account" tied to balances in brokerage accounts, IRAs, deposits, and loans.