Economic Empowerment

Our 2020 commitment to economic empowerment is focused on 4 areas:

• Expand access to high-quality, affordable, and responsible financial products and services to help underserved consumers enter the financial mainstream, increase savings, improve credit, and build assets.
• Strengthen the financial capabilities of underbanked consumers and our own team members.
• Stabilize local economies and low- to moderate-income neighborhoods through affordable housing, philanthropy, community development investments, and other critical community services.
• Empower small businesses with access to the capital and financial services needed to start, operate, and grow.

Progress highlights

• $139.2 million donated to nonprofits that support financial education, sustainable housing, small businesses, and other critical economic needs in 2018
• $96.5 million in grants and lending capital distributed to Community Development Financial Institutions serving diverse small businesses since 2015
• 1.7 million+ people visited handsonbanking.org in 2018. Hands on Banking^® is a public service offered by Wells Fargo that is a free, engaging, non-commercial program that provides people with the knowledge and skills to help them take control of their financial future
• 20,000 homeowners created across 68 communities through Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT^® program and other LIFT programs
• $108 billion in new mortgages provided to minority households and $44 billion in new mortgages provided to low- and-moderate income households since 2016
• 12.3 million customers helped to manage their credit scores and overall financial health with free credit score program since 2016
• 489 homes built or improved for low- to moderate-income households through the Wells Fargo Builds^SM program in 2018

We work with community organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), local governments, and other stakeholders to deliver capital, credit, financial education, and other solutions that meet the needs of our customers and communities and, ultimately, help make our economy stronger. Some of our key initiatives include:

• Wells Fargo Works for Small Business^® provides a wide range of resources, guidance, and services that help entrepreneurs take the next step toward their goals.
• The Wells Fargo Works for Small Business^®: Diverse Community Capital program provides diverse-owned small businesses with access to capital, technical assistance, business planning and other tools and resources.
• Wells Fargo Community Lending and Investment supports economic development by investing debt and equity capital in in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods with limited access to traditional financial services.
• The Wells Fargo NeighborhoodLIFT^® program supports sustainable homeownership and helps stabilize low- to moderate-income neighborhoods by providing down payment assistance and homebuyer education in collaboration with NeighborWorks^® America and local nonprofit housing organizations.
• Wells Fargo launched Where We Live in collaboration with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and local organizations, investing more than $1.6 billion in Washington, D.C.
• CommunityWINS^® (Working/Investing in Neighborhood Stabilization) in collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Mayors provides $3 million over 3 years to nonprofits and cities that support neighborhood revitalization, economic development, and job creation initiatives.