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Wells Fargo Web Site Ranked #1 in Technology Innovation by Brookings Institution Print E-mail

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC)’s web site has taken top honors for technological and digital innovation, ranking first out of 68 leading U.S. corporations, according to the Brookings Institution.

The Brookings Institution evaluated nearly two dozen features of digital innovation, including personalization, interactivity, transparency, PDA (personal digital assistant) access, disability access, language translation, number of online services, privacy, security and user feedback. Wells Fargo was ranked above sites belonging to corporations generally considered industry leaders including Google, Apple, Amazon, and Disney.

“As the first major financial institution to offer internet banking, Wells Fargo has a proud history of pioneering in the digital world,” said Jim Smith, executive vice president, Wells Fargo Internet Services Group. “We work very hard to ensure our offerings are user-friendly and innovative. Being ranked number 1 is a great honor, and we’ll continue to listen to our customers to give them the very best experience when they visit Wells Fargo by computer or mobile device.”

  • Wells Fargo’s top ranking is based, in part, on the many online tools and services it offers customers including:
  • My Spending Report with Budget Watch: A free online money management tool that helps customers create a budget in as few as two clicks and monitors their progress throughout the month, so they can identify opportunities to spend less – delivering the information customers need to stay on budget and gain more control of their finances.
  • My Savings PlanSM: A free online tool that provides Wells Fargo savings account customers an easy way to save toward a goal, automatically monitoring progress.
  • Smarter CreditTM Center: An online resource that provides information and services to help customers be smarter about credit – whether it’s establishing credit for the first time, reducing debt, getting more credit, or managing and protecting credit for the long term.
  • Wells Fargo vSafeSM: A personal online safe, which provides a secure place for customers to store copies of documents for handy reference and in case the originals or other copies are lost or destroyed. vSafe is the first storage solution of its kind for retail banking customers from a major financial institution.
    • For certain kinds of signed or valuable paper documents — such as wills, deeds, trusts, stock certificates, passports and powers of attorney, for example — an electronic copy often does not have the same legal effect as the paper original. It is important for customers to keep and protect their signed or valuable paper documents. If in doubt, it’s best to consult an attorney before destroying any original paper document. However, even when the electronic documents don’t have the same legal effect as originals, many Wells Fargo customers find it handy to have a copy available for reference from any Internet connection. In addition, if one of those original documents is inadvertently lost or destroyed, a copy can sometimes be used to help establish the contents of the original.
  • Wells Fargo MobileSM Banking: Secure, mobile account access that ensures key banking tasks such as checking account balances, transferring funds between accounts, and paying bills can be done “on the go.” In addition, BlackBerry® smartphone, iPhoneTM and iPod® touch users can download a WF.com icon for “one-click” access to Wells Fargo’s mobile web site. Customers may also choose to send a text message to the short code “93557” (for “WELLS”) to automatically receive their balance within moments.

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. It is consistently ranked as the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank in the U.S.
 
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.
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3 New CEO MobileSM Features Help Busy Executives See Where Money Is and What It's Doing Print E-mail

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) said today it has added three new applications to its CEO MobileSM service that help corporate executives get financial information via mobile devices whenever and wherever they need it:
  • Credit Management Service – View summary and detailed loan information and select new interest rates for certain loans nearing maturity;
  • New Treasury Information Reports – Check lockbox deposits and intraday returned items, in addition to other key reports;
  • Productivity Tools – Click on the Mobile Fastpath next to the name of a service on the CEO Mobile home page and go directly to the transactions that require your attention; this patent-pending feature has been enhanced to show you how many action items await.
Each new CEO Mobile tool, designed with input from Wells Fargo customers, helps busy executives complete work away from the office and execute business continuity plans.
“In a lean business environment where margins matter more, it’s important to keep a close eye on your transactions and act quickly,” said Amy L. Johnson, manager for the CEO Mobile service. “Our CEO Mobile service not only delivers several key reports, but allows our customers to initiate and approve transactions.”
In addition, CEO Mobile service added Mobile Basic Banking last fall, allowing users to access their personal Wells Fargo cash and credit accounts, view transactions, and transfer funds through mobile devices. With a secure sign-on to https://ceomobile.wf.com with theirCommercial Electronic Office® (CEO®) portal credentials, customers can stay on top of their cash management functions from meetings, airports, across town, or around the globe. Wells Fargo introduced the CEO Mobile service – a streamlined version of its CEO portal – to a select group of customers in April 2007 and offered the service to all commercial customers in late 2007, becoming the only major U.S. financial services company to offer mobile banking to commercial, corporate, and institutional customers. The CEO Mobile service also offers wire approval and initiation, image positive pay, intraday and previous day composite treasury reports, controlled disbursements summary, ACH Fraud Filter, and self administration password reset.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.
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Wells Fargo Mobilesm Banking Makes It Quick and Simple to Stay in Touch with Your Money Anywhere, Anytime Print E-mail

As Americans increasingly rely on mobile devices for communications and financial management, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today announced it has expanded availability of Wells Fargo Mobilesm Banking service for iPhone™ and iPod® touch users by making it accessible from Apple’s App Store online.

Wells Fargo’s secure and innovative mobile banking provides customers with mobile account access that is fully iPhone and iPod touch-optimized. This ensures that key banking tasks such as checking account balances, moving money between Wells Fargo accounts and paying bills can be done quickly. In addition, Wells Fargo Mobile Banking is integrated with the iPhone and iPod touch built-in maps feature so customers can search for the nearest ATM or Wells Fargo banking store with the touch-of-a-button.

According to Aite Group, a leading independent research and advisory firm, the mobile banking market is expected to more than double in 2009 to 21.1 million users in the United States. That’s expected to increase to 35 million users by 2011. Aite Group attributes that growth to consumers’ desire to access financial services remotely, increased mobile device penetration, more sophisticated devices, faster networks and increasing familiarity with data applications.

“We’re committed to providing products and services that meet our customers’ evolving banking needs,” said Secil Watson, senior vice president, Wells Fargo Internet Services Group. “We’ve been providing the mobile banking service for nearly two years, and we know that customers want and demand convenient banking solutions that help them manage finances while on-the-go. We help them view accounts and take care of tasks anytime, anywhere -- whether it’s a customer in a taxi or a customer who realizes at the last minute that the utility bill needs to be paid before leaving for vacation.”

The free* service allows users to connect to their Wells Fargo accounts in two easy ways:

  1. Customers who browse the web on their mobile phone can go to Wells Fargo’s mobile website at WF.com and sign on to their bank accounts to:
    • Check account balances
    • Check account activity
    • Transfer funds between accounts
    • Pay a bill
    • Find the nearest ATM or store location
  2. Customers who send text messages on their phone can send a text message to the short code “93557” (for “WELLS”) to automatically receive their balance within moments - without having to log in.
    • Type – “bal” to check primary account balance
    • Type – “bal all” to check all account balances
    • Type – “act” to check recent account activity

 

“Mobile phones are becoming an integral part of our customers’ lifestyles,” said Arah Erickson, head of Wells Fargo’s Retail Mobile Banking. “People are expecting to do so much more on their phones: check e-mail, get directions at a maps site or find a restaurant. That’s why we’re seeing ever increasing adoption of mobile banking. We have seen growth beyond our expectations.”

Wells Fargo customers use the mobile website service an average of six times per month and text banking customers send a balance request an average of 19 times a month.

The Wells Fargo Mobile service has a number of practical uses:

  • Consumers can review their account balances while standing in the store checkout aisle. This option can help ease anxiety about making a large or special purchase.
  • Travelers can search for the nearest ATM location “on the spot.” This helps save time for travelers who want to find an ATM quickly or are in a hurry.
  • Working parents can pay a bill while attending their sons’ or daughters’ soccer practice. This allows parents to address their “to do” lists in real-time.
  • College students, who have grown up relying on their mobile phones, can check account balances while walking to the campus bookstore. To ensure there is enough money

 

The free* Wells Fargo Mobile Banking app is available from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.

For those customers who use a BlackBerry® smartphone, a WF.com icon can be placed on the home screen for “one-click” access toWells Fargo anytime. Just go to WF.com from the BlackBerry® browser and follow the simple steps to download the icon.

Mobile Banking is covered by the Wells Fargo Online Security Guarantee. Mobile banking sessions have the same layered security approach and technology as all sessions on wellsfargo.com. In text banking sessions, there’s never more information in a text message than would be found on an ATM receipt.

About Wells Fargo 
In 2007, Wells Fargo became the first major financial services company in the nation to offer consumer and small business customers both browser- and text-based account access via their mobile devices.

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.

*Mobile carrier's text messaging and web access charges may apply.

The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.

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Humana Games for Health Launches One-of-a-Kind Game-Idea Competition Called “InsertCoin” Print E-mail

Have you ever had an idea for a video game but didn’t quite know what to do with it? Now, thanks to a new competition from Humana, you have a chance to share your idea and maybe win some money for it. Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), a leading health-benefits company, announced today its Games for Health team is hosting a unique game-idea competition called InsertCoin.

Humana Games for Health (http://www.humanagames.com) is looking for new game concepts that are innovative and entertaining enough to motivate everyone from kids to families to seniors to become more active or encourage them to make healthy decisions. Winning entries in InsertCoin will be awarded cash prizes and the opportunity to commercialize their idea.

“By sponsoring InsertCoin, we’re hoping to encourage more video game designers, developers or anyone to be thinking about games in a way that takes into account the opportunity to impact people’s health,” said Grant Harrison, vice president of consumer innovation at Humana. “We aren’t looking for traditional games; we want entries that get people to move more and live a healthier lifestyle. Since we want people to actually play these games, ideas for InsertCoin need to be fun but also have a health benefit.”

InsertCoin officially kicks off today as Humana returns as the premiere sponsor of the 5th annual Games for Health Conference in Boston. The Conference brings together several hundred of the sharpest minds in the game development and health industries. Humana was the first and remains the only health-benefits company to sponsor the Games for Health Conference.

“As a company that’s serious about motivating people to live healthier lives, Humana continually looks for innovative solutions to help people better manage their health,” said Ben Sawyer, co-founder of the Games for Health Project. “In their second year of support for the Games for Health Conference, Humana continues to grow its commitment to using cutting-edge game technologies to help people achieve better health outcomes.”

The InsertCoin competition begins June 11 and entries will be received until Sept. 9, 2009.

Game ideas will be judged in three competition categories:

  • Kids
  • Families
  • Seniors

Also, Humana Games for Health will award cash prizes to three contestants (from all categories combined) whose entries are judged to be the best: $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third place. Humana Games for Health will also evaluate the finalists and semifinalists (30 games total) for commercialization potential. The competition is open to any resident of the United States; children up to age 17 may participate with permission from a parent or guardian. Employees of Humana are not eligible for the competition.

So what are you waiting for? Start thinking about your idea and visitwww.humanagames.com to find out how to compete and for more information about InsertCoin.

About Humana Games for Health

Humana Games for Health, a part of Humana’s Innovation Center, believes video games can be more than just fun and entertaining – they can serve as a catalyst to healthier lifestyles. Our vision is to create ways for people of all ages to reach new levels of health and well-being through the use of game technology. We believe that because of the popularity of video games, the games can also be used to combat obesity, provide entertaining physical therapy and battle age-related physical and mental decline.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.4 million medical members. Humana is a full-service benefits solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.

Over its 48-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site at http://www.humana.com, including copies of:

  • Annual reports to stockholders
  • Securities and Exchange Commission filings
  • Most recent investor conference presentations
  • Quarterly earnings news releases
  • Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
  • Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
  • Corporate Governance Information

 

Contacts

Humana Corporate Communications
Breck Thomas-Ross, Cell: 502-762-5962
Office: 502-580-8676
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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AT&T Connects College Basketball Fans with Their Teams via March Madness, Texting and Free Tickets Print E-mail

AT&T's New Texting Sweepstakes Gives Fans a Chance to Win Free Tickets to the Final Four and Stay Updated on Their Teams

As college basketball fans get ready to jump through hoops for March Madness, AT&T* and NCAA® Men's Basketball are taking action to connect fans with their favorite teams — and give these fans a chance to win free tickets to the championship game. AT&T today announced "AT&T Action on Your Phone" NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four® Sweepstakes, a new text messaging promotion that runs now through March 13.

Fans with mobile service from AT&T can send their team's designated keyword to 72645 to join their school's mobile alert list and enter for a chance to win a trip for two to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four. One winner will receive round-trip airfare, a four-night stay at hotel and two tickets to the games in Detroit. In addition to their chance to win, fans who participate will receive weekly mobile alerts about their teams.
Participating schools:

University of California    
Penn State University
University of Connecticut    
Rutgers University
Georgia Tech    
University of Southern California
University of Kansas    
Stanford University
University of Louisville    
University of Texas
University of Miami    
Texas Tech University
University of Michigan    
University of Washington
Ohio State University    
University of Wisconsin
University of Oklahoma    
West Virginia University
University of Oregon


"We're glad to give college basketball fans a fun, easy way to connect with their favorite teams — and with a chance to see the big game," said Tim McGhee, executive director, AT&T Corporate Sponsorships. "This promotion is an important part of AT&T's mission to connect people with their world, everywhere they live and work, and do it better than anyone else."
Participating Schools and Keywords:
Cal           OSKI         Rutgers     RU4
GTech      Jackets     Stanford     Stanford
Kansas      Kansas      Texas         TX4
Louisville    Ville         Texas Tech TTU4
Miami        Miami        UConn        UConn4
Michigan    Michigan   USC            USCHoops
Ohio State Bucks      Washington  UW4
Oklahoma  OU4        Wisconsin     Badgers
Oregon     Duck4     WVU           DANCE
Penn State             PSU4

No purchase necessary. Standard messaging rates apply. For details and the Official Rules of the Sweepstakes, including alternate method of entry, visit www.att.net/hoopsrules.

* AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

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