Updated October 23, 2026

This Wells Fargo review looks at a bank first and a trading venue second. The company opened in 1852 and now runs roughly 4,500 branches across 40 states. The entry point is low: $25 opens a savings or checking account. Online stock and ETF orders cost $0, while the same order placed by phone through an agent costs $25. If you arrived here from our broker reviews expecting spreads, leverage and MetaTrader, adjust your expectations now. What you get is everyday banking with a WellsTrade brokerage bolted on.

What is Wells Fargo?

In 2016, Wells Fargo faced a $100 million fine from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau due to widespread unlawful practices involving the secret opening of unauthorized accounts. This transgression compelled the bank to alter its sales methods, such as implementing an email confirmation for customers after initiating a deposit account.

With a presence in 40 states, Wells Fargo can be an appealing choice if you prioritize access to your accounts that span nearly the entire nation.

The majority of its 4,500 branches are concentrated in California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

Wells Fargo

Annual fee $0 APR 18.24%, 24.74%, or 29.99%. Intro APR 0% for the first 21 months Recommended credit score 690-850 (excellent) Active yes Website https://www.wellsfargo.com/ Account types Checking, saving, and online investment

Wells Fargo at a glance

Minimum deposit: $25 for Way2Save savings, Platinum Savings and Everyday Checking.

Monthly fees: $5 on Way2Save, $12 on Platinum Savings, $10 on Everyday Checking, each with waiver conditions.

Savings rates: 0.15% APY on Way2Save, 0.25% on Platinum Savings, 0.26% with a linked Portfolio Relationship.

Trading commission: $0 per online stock or ETF order, $25 when an agent places it by telephone.

Wells Fargo

Overdraft: $35 per event, up to three events a day, plus $12.50 per transfer under Overdraft Protection.

Card terms: 0% APR for the first 21 months, then 18.24%, 24.74% or 29.99%, recommended credit score 690-850.

Coverage: about 12,000 ATMs across 37 states and the District of Columbia, availability listed for 195 countries.

Regulator and licence number: not stated in the source material, check them on the bank site before you deposit.

Pros and cons of Wells Fargo

PROS AND CONS OF WELLS FARGO

Pros

High accessibility: many locations. With over 12,000 ATMs that are located across 37 states and the District of Columbia, this bank is one of the more easily accessible significant banks in the country. It has about 4,900 branches.

Wells Fargo frequently waives monthly costs, but you can avoid them in various ways. Wells Fargo charges maintenance fees on most of its deposit accounts. You will likely be eligible for one of the numerous waivers.

Apps for innovative, secure exchange of data and money management: If you use Mint, QuickBooks Online, and TurboTax online, you can interact easily and securely thanks to a partnership between this bank and Intuit that was established in 2017.

Through this innovative step, you can simply share data with these Intuit tools to manage your finances without endangering the security of your accounts.

Cons

Low-interest rates: Unlike their online competitors, account APYs at traditional brick-and-mortar banks tend to be lower. However, Wells Fargo provides relatively low rates on all its savings alternatives (now 0.01%-0.02%).

Every savings account also carries a monthly fee. If you cannot dodge it, say your balance slips under the minimum daily figure, the fee quietly eats the interest you earned.

Costs for overdrafts are assessed up to three times each day: Every time you overdraw your account, Wells Fargo assesses a $35 overdraft fee for their Debit Card Overdraft Service. Unfortunately, the bank’s rules allow for a maximum of three overdrafts per day, which means that a single day’s errors may set you back $105 in overdraft penalties.

In contrast, if you’ve selected Overdraft Protection, the bank will assess a fee once every working day; however, the fee will vary depending on the nature of the account from which the funds are taken out to pay the overdraft.

Costly scandals in the past: In 2016, it became known that Wells Fargo employees had engaged in illegal activity for years, which led to the creation of fake accounts, the charging of additional fees to customers, and the improper repossession of vehicles and homes.

Wells Fargo was ordered to pay billions in fines by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Opening an account at Wells Fargo

Opening an account on Wells Fargo is simple. Visit the company website through your browser. On the open window, input your username and password. Click the ‘sign on’ button to finalize the process.

Wells Fargo Sign-On

Wells Fargo Sign-On

How much can you make with Wells Fargo?

Wells Fargo Bank is prominent on the Fortune 1000 list and is the seventh-largest financial institution in the United States. Given its stature, it’s unsurprising that Wells Fargo’s credit cards outshine many competitors in their offerings. These cards offer two primary advantages.

Firstly, spending $1,000 or more within the initial three months as a Wells Fargo Active Cash card holder adds a $200 credit to your account. Secondly, if you are a cardholder of this type, you receive a 2% cashback reward on all direct purchases and orders. That cashback is not a bonus in points. It is money, and there is no cap on how much of it you accrue.

Wells Fargo 2% Cashback

2% Cashback

The annual percentage rate (APR) for the Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card remains 0% during the initial 21 months. Subsequently, depending on your credit score, the APR will be set at 18.24%, 24.74%, or 29.99%.

Additionally, the card includes several distinctive security features as part of its usage conditions. For instance, an optional insurance offering for $25 provides up to $600 in cell phone protection against damage or theft.

Wells Fargo Active Cash credit card

Moreover, the Zero Liability protection feature absolves cardholders of responsibility for any unauthorized transactions.

Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card

If you obtain an Active Cash credit card, you receive a $200 welcome bonus. The sole requirement to earn this bonus is to make purchases totaling $1,000 or more within three months of card usage.

It’s important to note that these expenses must be related to direct purchases or services and not include activities such as bank transfers, currency conversions, loan payments, or wagers. You can easily track your progress towards receiving the welcome bonus through the mobile app or by contacting the bank’s technical support.

Services offered by Wells Fargo

Savings account

Wells Fargo Created the Way2Save Savings Account specifically to encourage savings. The account has a minimum deposit of $25 and a monthly service fee of $5. You can waive this fee with a $300 minimum daily balance or set up automatic transfers from connected Wells Fargo checking accounts.

Moreover, Wells Fargo automatically waives the monthly fee for account holders under 24.

Another savings incentive is the Save As You transfer, which transfers $1 from your Wells Fargo checking account to your Way2Save account after each qualifying transaction. These transactions include non-recurring debit card purchases and using the Wells Fargo online bill pay option whenever you pay a bill.

Wells Fargo also touts using your Way2Save account as overdraft protection for customers with checking accounts. If you sign up for this optional service, this bank will move cash from your Way2Save account into your checking account to cater for an overdraft.

However, this service doesn’t shield you from being charged a $35 overdraft fee once every business day. You can avoid the cost if a covering transfer or deposit is made on the same business day.

The Way2Save accounts offer an APY of 0.15%, and there is no obligatory minimum balance to qualify for this rate.

Wells Fargo’s Platinum Savings account provides the added feature of check-writing capabilities, along with the flexibility of unlimited monthly withdrawals.

Wells Fargo Way2Save Account

Wells Fargo Way2Save Account

For the Platinum Savings account, you can anticipate an APY of 0.25%. However, linking a Portfolio Relationship by a Wells Fargo account can enjoy a relationship bonus APY of 0.26%. It’s important to note that closing the eligible checking account will result in the loss of the bonus rate.

Wells Fargo Platinum Savings

Opening a Platinum Savings account requires just $25 as an initial deposit, and there are no mandatory balance prerequisites for earning interest. Nevertheless, there is a monthly fee of $12, which can only be waived by maintaining a minimum daily balance of $3,500.

Wells Fargo Platinum Savings

Checking account

The Everyday Checking account at Wells Fargo is their standard checking option, likely appealing to many customers. To open this account, you’ll need an initial deposit of $25, but it comes with a $10 monthly fee unless you meet one of these conditions to waive the fee:

• Maintain a minimum balance of $500.

• Receive $500 or more in qualifying direct deposits per month.

• Fall within the age bracket of 17 to 24.

• Be a college student with a linked Wells Fargo Campus ATM.

Although it’s relatively straightforward to avoid the monthly fee by meeting one of these requirements, it’s essential to be mindful of other potential charges. These may include a $2.50 fee for using an out-of-network ATM and a $35 overdraft fee if your account balance goes negative.

However, if you opt for Overdraft Protection with a linked savings account, you may avoid the hefty $35 overdraft fee. However, you’ll still incur a $12.50 transfer fee when funds are moved from your savings to checking to cover the overdraft.

Wells Fargo Everyday Checking

Wells Fargo Everyday Checking

Online investment account

Access to the service may encounter limitations, delays, unavailability during peak demand periods, market volatility, system upgrades or maintenance, electronic communication or system issues, or other reasons.

During elevated trading activity, such as market openings or intra-day periods, you may encounter delays in system access or execution, possibly at prices significantly different from the market price initially quoted or displayed at the time of order entry.

A fee of $0 per trade is applied to commissions for online and automated telephone trading of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When placing stock and ETF trades with an agent via telephone, you will incur a $25 agent-assisted trading fee. Each trade order is considered a distinct transaction subject to commission fees.

Orders that execute across multiple trading days may entail additional commission charges. A single commission will be assessed for multiple trades you enter separately but execute on the same day and market side. Additional fees and commissions apply to WellsTrade accounts. The fee schedule is subject to modification at any time.

Wells Fargo Online Investment Account

Online Investment Account

Customer service

At Wells Fargo, you will have multiple avenues to contact customer service representatives, which include:

• X (formerly Twitter), available seven days a week.

• A detailed Help section is provided on the Wells Fargo website.

• Telephone support, accessible 24/7 at 1-800-869-3557.

• Traditional mail correspondence.

Wells Fargo Customer Service

Meta, available seven days a week.

Wells Fargo Customer Service

Verdict: who Wells Fargo suits

Wells Fargo offers numerous banking services. You can save money, invest it, or even acquire loans. With this in-depth review, you can easily make an informed decision.

Wells Fargo fits a specific person. You want a branch and an ATM within driving distance. You keep enough on the account to waive the monthly fee. You treat investing as a side line to everyday banking rather than a job. For that profile the $0 online commission on stocks and ETFs is genuinely good value.

The savings side is where it stops being attractive. Between 0.15% and 0.26% APY you are lending the bank money for almost nothing, and an online-only account will pay several times that. Overdrafts are the second sore point: three $35 hits in a single day come to $105.

Skip it if you trade actively, want margin, or came looking for crypto. None of that is on the menu here. Our list of brokers covers venues built for that kind of account instead.

This review was updated in 2026. Fee schedules and waiver rules change without notice, and Wells Fargo states outright that its brokerage fee schedule can be modified at any time. Confirm the numbers on the bank site before you sign anything.

FAQ

What does this Wells Fargo review cover?

It covers what the bank publishes about itself: account minimums, monthly fees and their waivers, savings rates, Active Cash card terms, WellsTrade commissions and the ways you can reach support. It is a bank review, so there is no section on spreads, leverage or trading platforms.

Is the platform safe and regulated?

The source material does not name a regulator or a licence number, so check both on the bank site. It does record a $100 million fine from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2016 over accounts opened without consent, followed by billions more in penalties from the OCC, the SEC and the CFPB.

What is the minimum deposit on the platform?

Twenty five dollars. That figure opens a Way2Save savings account, a Platinum Savings account or an Everyday Checking account. The deposit is the easy part. Keeping the balance above the waiver threshold, $300 on Way2Save and $3,500 on Platinum Savings, is what actually saves you money.

How much does trading cost here?

Online and automated telephone trades in stocks and ETFs are $0 per trade. Put the same order through a live agent and you pay $25. Each order counts as its own transaction, and an order that fills across several days can attract more than one commission.

How long does withdrawal take on the platform?

The source material gives no processing times for withdrawals or transfers, so treat any number you read elsewhere with caution. What it does specify is the cost of moving money to cover an overdraft: $12.50 per transfer under Overdraft Protection. Ask support for current timings.