Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Anybody here ever tried to finance (or refinance) a home through Wells...?

I did. It was a nightmare. Never again.

And if it was that hard for me, as a team member, then how hard must it be for Joe & Jane Public?

No wonder this company is sinking so fast.

Originate loans can be profitable. Quicken only originates loans and does not services. Servicing with rates so low has been a very hard business to make money on. One of the messages here is WFHM is getting out of the wholesale business - not sure I have seen a major company with a leading position in a highly profitable business just give up that position. This is the equivalent of Amazon deciding to stop selling books online IMO.

Auto lending has been on the chopping block for years.

Wells never really competed on rate or a few other things in the mortgage business. You could find better rates elsewhere. In fact, oddly enough, I went thru a broker I knew and the sold the loan to Wells w/in a few months. I got the great rate and lower costs.

The efficiency and tangled mess makes it really hard to compete against other companies that are far, far, far more nimble and efficient. When I joined the company in the mid 2000's CORE was all the rage. It took many years and 100's of millions to even get that thing running-- is it even fully operational?

Couple that with horribly inefficient and inconsistent processes -- mostly in HEQ. Woo Ho was a horrible leader and HEQ only did well b/c you couldn't help but make money in the 2000's -- that is until the financial crisis.

Although I have to admit that when I got a temporary mortgage a few years ago it was a fairly painless process for me. So it's doable, just not to the extent that some of the upstarts can do.

Lastly, I guess the other question is that with the costs to originate and service loans, is it even all that profitable?

Wells Fargo historically lead with the Mortgage product as a way to grab consumers. It spent millions of dollars starting in the late 2000s on a new home grown origination platform that took forever to come online. And along came Rocket that changed the business model. WFHM tried to focus on making the internal process go faster but it never could. They ended up outsourcing the Rocket Mortgage solution to a third party, as the inhouse eComm teams took forever delivering. WFHM and most importantly the packaging the loans to sell to Fannie and Freddie were a monster profit center. I got the loan volume numbers for WFHM for years, and you could watch the WFHM backlog directly tie to the profits each quarter. Warren Buffet loved the mortgage business because it was a predictable business, and grounded WF in the local communities. The decision to get of HEQ lines was the first domino - with the hard asset cap lines were hard because they ate up asset cap but were not being utilized. The home mortgage leadership was always in Des Moines until very recently, which was the second sign. The third domino was the push to credit cards - which is a huge hill to climb. It's a pretty entrenched business to break into but the business leadership in consumer lending is all from credit card; meaning the other products (personal lines) are getting zero attention and the business people on PLL are all leaving. WF deciding to move out of HM will decimate Des Moines, especially West Des Moines were WF has a huge presence. WF's strength was it's diversity, and the fact it was focused on Main Street, not Wall Street.

How is this a surprise. Read the latest quarterly earning sheet and look at the Home Lending numbers over the past year. Everything has been plummeting across the board, while credit cards rise

woo hoo

Anyone been around long enough in Tech to remember when Stumpf asked Rhein where OUR Rocket Mortgage platform was?

Was a major business request for years - many, many, many years. Not surprised if Charlie thinks it’s time to give up.

As a former WFHM "team member", it's easy to see why we're slumping in that specific Line of Business. Have you tried purchasing your home through Wells Fargo? It takes a lot of time to get through the process. We're slow and have been slow for the last 12 years. That also means the cost per loan to originate is more expensive.

Yes, WFHM used to be our most profitable line of business, but that was back when we originated AAA grade loans and also prior to purchasing Wachovia which, let's face it, had way more garbage loans on their books than first thought. Look at what Quicken Loans did. They invested serious upgrades to their mortgage origination systems and then correctly changed their name to Rocket Mortgage. In less than 2 years, they are now the #1 mortgage company. If WFHM is to survive, that kind of change/upgrade is necessary. Heck, spin it off and change the name for all I care. The Stage Coach reeks of slowness anyway....

Hey Charlie if you don’t like the heat get out of the kitchen. https://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-ceo-charlie-scharf-bank-could-pull-back-mortgages-2022-6?r=wellsfargo-lp&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=yahoo.com

Hello Charlie? You do know this is a bank, right?

Charlie Scharf can not properly manage the mortgage business??? He is incapable of putting in place the proper systems, employees, compliance and oversight necessary to execute on the very basic business of what banks do: LEND MONEY????

I must be missing something.

Charlie is also, apparently, incapable of properly managing:

• the asset management business
• the student loan business
• international business
• the revolving lines of credit business
• the institutional retirement business (yes- not even for his very own employees)
• the trust business
• the Abbot Downing business (It is common practice for major Wall Street Banks to have separate well-run units for the very wealthy.)

What business does Charlie want to manage? This is a financial institution, which requires talented leaders, top-notch technology, critical thinking, vision, informed risk-taking, and a broad product mix.

Charlie Scarf is incapable of managing a top bank. Jamie Dimon demoted him for that very reason. Let’s sent him off to run a small local credit union. Wells Fargo needs a trustworthy CEO with great leadership skills, a passion for the business, and a backbone.

Good Riddance. Such a cr---y service.