CNN Newsource contributed copy to this story.
INDIANAPOLIS–Wells Fargo is selling all of its Indiana branches, and all branches in Michigan and Ohio. The bank is cutting costs and trying to save money after several scandals have forced the company to cut costs and scale back its operations.
Will you still have a job?
The bank has 33 branches in the Hoosier State, all of which will be sold to Flagstar Bancorp.
If you work for Wells Fargo in Indiana, the company says you will get an offer to work for Flagstar.
“We remain committed to these communities,” Mary Mack, Wells Fargo’s head of community banking, said in a statement. Mack said Wells Fargo will “continue to have a presence in the area” through commercial lending, wealth management and mortgage lending.
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The bank is dealing with soaring legal bills linked to a fake-accounts scandal and its many other troubles.
The plan
Wells Fargo said in January it would pull the plug on more than 800 branches by 2020 as more Americans do their banking online. That will leave the company with about 5,000 locations.
In February, the Federal Reserve hit Wells Fargo with unprecedented sanctions for “widespread consumer abuses.” The Fed will prevent Wells from growing beyond $2 billion in assets until it shows it has cleaned up its act, reported CNN.
Wells Fargo recently indicated that it has more work to do to satisfy regulators and that the penalties are likely to remain in place until next year.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the sale of branches in the Midwest has “no connection” to the Fed’s sanctions.
Meet Flagstar Bancorp
Flagstar said the branches will operate as Wells Fargo locations until the deal is closed. After that, they will be rebranded as Flagstar.
Wells Fargo has admitted its workers opened as many as 3.5 million fake accounts, and charged customers for auto insurance they didn’t need and mortgage fees they didn’t deserve. Wells Fargo has also been accused of ripping off mom-and-pop shops on credit card fees.
More recently, Wells Fargo discovered some workers improperly altered documents about business customers in 2017 and early 2018. Wells Fargo also agreed last month to pay $480 million to put to rest claims that it misled shareholders about the fake-accounts scandal.
PHOTO: Getty Images/Justin Sullivan
