The team at Wells Fargo has been providing investment advice and guidance to clients since it was founded in 1852. But proving that an old dog can learn new tricks, Wells Fargo is going mobile in 2015 in a highly creative and effective way.

As client conversations about finances continue to move “out of office,” Wells Fargo Advisors is gearing up to make mobile technology more available to advisors, a company announcement reads.

“More than 1,000 Wells Fargo Advisors financial advisors who use their own device, now have access to the Smart2Go mobile application,” Wells Fargo says.

Wells Fargo Advisors intends to make the tablet app available by the end of June to nearly 20 percent of its advisor population.

“As our clients become more mobile, so do our financial advisors,” said Mary Mack, president and head of Wells Fargo Advisors. “In our commitment to serving clients when and where it suits them best, it’s essential that technology evolves to deliver secure, accurate information that meets our clients’ technology and service expectations.”

As it turns out, tablets are hugely popular with financial and investment advisors, especially at Wells Fargo.

According to independent research and advisory firm Aite Group, twenty-eight percent of advisors reported using a tablet in 2014, up from 21 percent in 2013. And last year, almost one-third of advisors who do not use a tablet device today said they will definitely or probably start to use one for business within the next 12 to 18 months.

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One of the most recent financial behemoths to announce support for Apple Pay is Wells Fargo. In fact, the team at Wells Fargo has begun heavily marketing its incentive to get customers to try the service.

Just check out in a merchant app or look for the Near Field Communication (NFC) symbol at checkout registers in stores and use your iPhone 6 Touch ID to authorize payment quickly and securely.

“Use your iPhone 6 to make an Apple Pay purchase with your Wells Fargo Credit Card by November 30, 2014, and you’ll earn a $20 statement credit,” Wells Fargo says on its website.

Not too shabby. Wells Fargo is offering customers upwards of $20 in bill credits just for giving the Apple payments service a shot.

Wells Fargo joins the likes of American Express, Bank of America, and Chase among the leading financial firms to get on board Apple Pay right out of the gates.

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And young Americans are driving that growth.

As MMW reported in September, the findings presented in this year’s xAd/Telmetrics Mobile Path to Purchase Study showed that banking and finance mobile users are heavily ruled by Millennials.
xAd discovered that nearly half of all mobile bankers were under the age of 35 and one-third indicated that smartphones were the most important device for their banking needs.

But with so many people turning to digital and mobile platforms for their banking, which institutions have done their part to give customers a quality mobile and online banking platform?

Well, it’s Bank of America that tops a new Forrester ranking of US bank websites, based on user experience, research content, and application functionality.

“Over the last few years, digital banking teams have worked hard on redesigning their sites to improve the online sales process, despite a heavy burden on regulatory compliance,” says Principal Analyst Tiffani Montez in the report.

Although Bank of America took the top spot, Citibank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo were hot on its heels. Both U.S. Bank’s and Wells Fargo’s sites scored two points less than Bank of America, with Citibank just one point further behind.

“The best sites make it easy for prospects to achieve their goals — to find an account that meets their needs, apply in the channel of their choice, and have immediate access to their account. Over the last few years, US banks have chiseled away at the digital sales basics, steadily optimizing their customer journey — but they still have room to improve,” writes Montez.

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According to the partners, the new platform will enable their customers to move money more conveniently and safely using a mobile number or email address.

Customers of the three banks will be able to move funds directly from their existing checking accounts using an email address or mobile number – instead of providing checking account and routing numbers.

“This is an innovative game-changer in electronic payments,” said Mike Kennedy, EVP and Head of Payments Strategy at Wells Fargo. “We want our customers to be able to easily send money to anyone without having to establish a new account outside their primary bank. All our customers need to know is the email address or mobile number of a friend or family member and we will take care of the rest utilizing clearXchange.”

“Our goal is to provide convenient and safe financial services options for our customers,” said David Owen, eCommerce, Claims and Fraud Executive at Bank of America. “By creating a utility like clearXchange, we are able to meet the needs of our customers and differentiate our capabilities from other offerings in the marketplace.”

The three banks involved in this partnership – Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase – represent the three largest banks in the US, boasting one of every three consumer accounts.

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A press release today from Juniper proclaims, “Wells Fargo was chosen based on its multiple platform strategy and continued service innovation such as the recent near real-time warning of potentially fraudulent activity.”

Wells Fargo allows customers–whether their operating systems are iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or even Palm– to access their accounts in several mobile ways: By sending a text message to a short code; by going on the bank’s mobile website; and by using mobile apps.

The financial institution also offers an SMS alert program for its credit card customers. Those who sign up get a text message every time their Visa card is involved in a transaction, alerting customers to potential unauthorized use of their accounts.

“Wells Fargo has been a pioneer in mobile banking by offering all three access modes,” Mark Schwanhausser, senior analyst at Javelin Strategy, said in a release. “Sometimes consumers prefer the speed of an SMS text, sometimes they prefer capabilities of a smartphone app, and sometimes they prefer to log on via a mobile browser. It’s essential to provide a full range of access modes so customers can decide for themselves what’s most convenient and practical.”

Juniper says its Future Mobile Awards “are given to companies that have made a significant contribution to their sector and are poised to make considerable market impact in the future.”

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