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Banking Pioneer Introduces The WellsFargo.com Bus: Bringing the Bank to the Customer
Business Wire, March 28, 2001
Business Editors/High-Tech Writers
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EUGENE, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2001
Wells Fargo Unveils Next Stage of Anywhere, Anytime Banking
as Bus Travels Along Former Stagecoach Routes
From stagecoach to space age, Wells Fargo is entering 2001 with a banking odyssey that will feature a bus that would make the Jetsons envious.
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Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today christened The WellsFargo.com Bus, a uniquely customized motor coach designed to provide customer education and employee training virtually anywhere in the continental United States through secure, high-speed Internet access to wellsfargo.com. The bus is the first coach to be custom-built with business-grade satellite-enabled Internet access and a virtual private network that meets Wells Fargo's requirements for secure online financial services on the Internet.
The bus will be used as a mobile education center for both existing and potential Wells Fargo customers nationwide, including small business and commercial customers. With 16 Internet terminals on board and two outside Internet terminals, Wells Fargo customers can easily enroll for Internet access to personal accounts, pay bills, trade stocks or mutual funds online and apply for a wide variety of other online products and services. Customers can also apply online to open their first checking or savings account, apply for a credit card, home equity loan, online brokerage account or a retirement account with Wells Fargo.
"Wells Fargo has long been recognized as a trailblazer. From the original stagecoaches to the inception of online banking, we have been at the forefront of bringing the bank directly to the customer," said Clyde Ostler, group executive vice president of Internet Services at Wells Fargo. "The WellsFargo.com Bus will unite customers and employees nationwide -- and bring the next stage of financial services directly to their front door."
The 45-foot long, 26-ton Wells Fargo.com Bus has three servers and 15 miles of wiring. After its launch in Eugene, it will travel along the I-5 freeway to Seattle (a former Wells Fargo stagecoach route). The bus will then bring Internet banking and online brokerage to consumers and small business customers across the West. The tour will also include visits to Denver; Las Vegas; Austin, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas; Tucson, Ariz.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis.
At each stop, the bus will position itself in a prominent location in the city center. The bus crew will demonstrate wellfargo.com tools, calculators and financial services -- and will be on site to answer questions and sign up new customers.
"The WellsFargo.com Bus is another step in this evolution of customer accessibility," said George Passadore, regional president for Oregon. "By bringing the technology directly to the customers in their hometown, we can eliminate the mystery surrounding online banking and demonstrate the best services available for their individual needs."
A number of vendors contributed to the development and construction of the bus, including Eugene-based IP Services and Tachyon from San Diego. IP Services provides all of the Internet connectivity, security and computer network technology for The WellsFargo.com Bus. Tachyon provides secure and reliable high-speed satellite connectivity needed to access the Internet from any location along the bus's route.
"Wells Fargo has always been at the forefront of technology, even since its beginnings during the Gold Rush," said Scott Alldridge, CEO of IP Services, an IT solutions provider. "IP Services's contribution to the bus's success is definitely a source of pride for us."
Knier Productions, which conceived, designed and produced The WellsFargo.com Bus, specializes in the invention, design, production and servicing of highly custom corporate promotion environments.
Wells Fargo was the first major financial services company in the United States to launch Internet banking services for its customers in 1995 (www.wellsfargo.com), and has been online since 1989. The company has since blazed the trail for interactive tools and features with a wide range of easy-to-use online customer services. Wells Fargo currently has more than 2.7 million Internet banking customers, and has more unique visitors than any other bank site, according to Nielson Net Ratings.
Wells Fargo and Company (NYSE:WFC) is a $272 billion diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance services through 6,000 stores, its Internet site and other distribution channels across North America as well as internationally.
Additional information and photographs are available at http://www.wellsfargo.com/about/bus.jhtml.
Note: Photos are available at URL:
WellsFargo.com Bus:
http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/photo.cgi?pw.032801/bb2
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