Financial success for our customers and our business starts with the success of local communities. We’re strengthening economic opportunities in underserved communities by empowering individuals and small businesses with the products, services, knowledge, and tools needed to ensure financial self-sufficiency, income mobility, and ultimately, improved well-being and quality of life.
Our priorities
- 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.
Our programs
We work with community organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), 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’s Open for Business Fund will donate approximately $400 million in gross processing fees from the Paycheck Protection Program to support nonprofit organizations who serve small businesses, particularly businesses owned by underrepresented individuals — a group disproportionately affected by the pandemic — to provide needed capital, offer technical support, and develop long-term resiliency programs.
- 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.
- 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.
- Hands on Banking is a free, non-commercial program that teaches people in various stages of life about the basics of responsible money management.
- 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.
- CollegeSTEPS® program provides guidance to help students manage their finances through college.