Wells Fargo Donates $49 Million to Support Veterans, Servicemembers
Wells Fargo Military Affairs Program focuses on empowering military servicemembers, veterans and their families to achieve homeownership, attain successful career transitions and succeed financially
Quinn
SAN FRANCISCO, November 6, 2014 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today its Military Affairs program has surpassed its three-year, $35 million goal by donating more than $49 million in its first two years toward programs to help military servicemembers, veterans and their families achieve and maintain homeownership, attain successful career transitions and succeed financially.
Since November 2012, Wells Fargo has:
- Donated or is in the process of donating to wounded warriors more than 230 Real Estate Owned (REO) properties valued at more than $37 million
- Hired more than 3,600 veterans and participated in more than 500 military job fairs
- Launched Hands on Banking for Military , a financial education program that has been viewed by more than 40,000 people since last year
- Donated nearly $12 million to military- and veteran- related nonprofits
“We began our Military Affairs program in 2012 to elevate our work with military servicemembers, veterans and their families,” said Jerry Quinn, Wells Fargo Military Affairs program manager. “From the start of our program, we’ve always believed in giving a hand up, rather than a hand out. We plan to take that a step further by helping empower military members, veterans and their families to own homes, and achieve professional and financial success.”
VIDEO: Wells Fargo’s Jerry Quinn Reveals Impact of $35M to Vets
Moving forward, Wells Fargo seeks to grow its military affairs efforts in three key areas: hiring, financial education, and customer services tailored to the needs of military personnel, veterans and their families.
In the workplace, Wells Fargo values the leadership, discipline and service record of military members and veterans, employing approximately 7,500 team members today who self-identify as veterans. The company is committed to increasing its veteran team member population to 20,000 by 2020. The company also helps veterans translate their military skills into job skills through a tool called “Hiring Our Heroes’ Military Translator.” Wells Fargo also offers enhanced training for hiring managers to increase their understanding of the valuable skills and experiences veterans have to offer.
The company also is offering special financial education resources tailored for servicemembers and veterans that include information about VA loans, homebuyer education and down payment assistance grants. These programs are offered in markets such as Albuquerque, Virginia Beach, Va., and others where a concentration of military servicemembers exists.
Wells Fargo also recently expanded its Military Banking Call Center (MBCC), a dedicated customer service phone number for military men and women and their families. By calling 1-855-USA-2WFB (1-855-872-2932), military members can get assistance with managing their finances wherever they may be stationed around the globe. Because service members have unique and often complex needs due to their service, the MBCC is staffed by Wells Fargo team members who are veterans, reservists or are part of a military family. The MBCC is the most recent dedicated Wells Fargo customer service phone number for the military, and joins the Mortgage Military Customer Service number (1-866-936-7272) and Wells Fargo Dealer Services military line (1-800-289-8004).
Wells Fargo announced on Monday that it will mark this Veterans Day by inviting service members, veterans and their families to learn more about managing their finances, buying a home and managing credit. This is the third time Wells Fargo is offering free financial education webinars (online workshops) for military members and veterans, allowing service members to access the information from their homes or at local libraries. The webinars, offered through Wells Fargo’s Military Mortgage Express program, are scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11 through Thursday, Nov. 13. The instructor-led sessions will provide information on home buying, managing credit, budgeting and saving.
Register at www.wellsfargo.com/rsvp for the following sessions:
- First-Time Homebuyer: Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. CST. Access code: Mil1stHome
- Budgeting and Saving: Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. CST. Access code: MilBudget
- Get Smart About Credit: Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. CST. Access code: MilCredit
Veterans’ Team Member Network
Wells Fargo’s Veterans’ Team Member Network (VTMN) provides team members with personal and professional development, mentoring, leadership engagement, networking and community outreach opportunities. In 2014, the VTMN added approximately 750 new members for a total of more than 3,200 members and 33 active chapters across the country.
2012-2014 Rankings
- 8th on Diversity, Inc.’s Top Companies for Veterans 2014
- 29th on Military Times Best for Vets: Employers 2014
- I. Jobs: 2014 Top 100 Military Friendly Employers
- I. Jobs: 2014 Top 50 Military Spouse Friendly Employer
- 7 on the CareerBliss list of Top 20 Happiest Companies for Veterans in 2013
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.6 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,700 locations, 12,500 ATMs, and the internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 265,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortune’s 2014 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.
