We just got the first look at how the fake accounts scandal is hurting Wells Fargo
Mike Blake/Reuters
In a presentation accompanying earnings, the bank laid out how the accounts scandal is slowing down the business.
While Wells reported growth in the overall number of retail accounts on its books, the growth of accounts slowed considerably in the month of September once the $185 million settlement between Wells Fargo and regulators was announced.
According to a chart in the presentation, credit card application fell by 30% between August and September and were down 25% from September 2015. Consumer checking account opens also fell by 30% from August and 25% from September 2015.
Perhaps most damning, consumer loyalty surveys, which showed that loyalty to the bank has been steadily increasing over the past two years, dropped off significantly. In-store surveys of customer loyalty showed a roughly 5% decrease from the month before, to 57.7% in September from 62.6% in August.
Even interactions between branch bankers and customers declined sharply, down 14% in September from the month before and down 10% from the year before.
While the headline number for Wells Fargo seemed to hold up, the slowing trend for the retail business in the month since the scandal broke may be a worrying sign of things to come.
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