Wells Fargo & Company saw modest growth in online and mobile customers in its fourth quarter earnings report released today.
The bank had 29.2 million active digital (online and mobile) users as of the fourth quarter of 2018. That’s up 1% from 29 million last quarter and 4% from 28.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Mobile user growth mimicked the modest quarter-over-quarter growth in digital users overall but grew quite a bit more over the whole year. Of the bank’s 29.2 million digital users, 22.8 million are active mobile users. That’s up 1% from last quarter and 7% from the fourth quarter of 2017.
But even that increase wasn’t as impressive as the mobile user gains posted by other major banks so far this quarter. Citigroup on Monday reported 10.8 million active mobile customers, up 12% YoY from 4Q17, when there were 9.7 million such customers. JPMorgan Chase today reported 2 million new active mobile users, reflecting 11% YoY growth to 34.2 million such users.
It’s worth noting over 78% of Wells Fargo’s digital customers are mobile users, which still leaves over 6 million existing digital customers that could potentially go mobile.
Also see: JPMorgan Chase Adds 2 Million Mobile Users While Closing 30 Branches in 4Q
Wells Fargo exceeded earnings expectations but fell short on revenue in the fourth quarter of 2018, and shares in the company slipped Tuesday morning on the mixed results.
Nonetheless, the bank saw “positive business trends” in this past quarter, CFO John Shrewsberry said, with year-over-year growth in primary consumer checking customers, active consumer credit card accounts, debit and credit card usage, commercial loan balances, and loan originations.
Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, in part, touted “customer-focused innovations” including the bank’s online mortgage application, Control Tower, Pay with Wells Fargo, and the new Propel Card. The bank saw “improved customer experience and team member productivity” with the launch of the online mortgage application, according to a very busy presentation slide on “efficiency actions” taken by Wells Fargo in 2018.
Speaking of efficiencies, the bank’s 5,518 retail bank branches as of the end of the fourth quarter 2018 reflected 93 branch consolidations for the quarter and 300 altogether in 2018. Headcount at branches decreased by over 2,800 in 2018, with additional reductions expected in 2019.
According to the bank’s presentation, branch staffing efficiencies resulted from “changes in customer transaction preference, operational improvements, and continued retail branch network optimization.”
In terms of teller and ATM activity, 336.8 million total transactions in 4Q18, down 2% from last quarter and 5% YoY, reflected “continued customer migration to digital channels,” the bank said in its earnings release.





