Making banking easier for every customer is the mission of Mary Mack, who leads 67,000 employees in Wells Fargo's consumer and small-business banking (CSBB) division. Last year, Mack led the app's relaunch, making it easier to use and more secure for customers. "There are alerts and speed bumps along the way to prevent fraud," Mack said.
The app also lets users set up customized low-balance alerts to help track spending. Mack said that Wells is planning other personalized features. "Customers expect us to use what we know about them to make their lives better," she said. Among the new offerings are a 24-hour grace period for overdrafts, faster access to direct deposits, remote account opening, clearer information about fund availability and improved digital check deposits.
"Banking has transformed during the past 20 years and that pace seems to have quickened with advancements in technology and digital capabilities," Mack said. "The industry has shifted from the primarily in-person transactional model from years ago, to banking today where we are enabling customers to manage their banking needs however they choose — through their smartphones, tablets, computers or in person."
In addition to improving digital banking Mack said it's her involvement across diverse communities that she finds most personally rewarding. She sponsors the CSBB diversity, equity and inclusion council. The group focuses on increasing representation of minority communities at CSBB, improving internal career mobility and promoting inclusive, respectful work environments. The council's successes include a mentoring program that helps provide a network for personal and career development and short micro-learning opportunities that help employees along the development path they've chosen. Mack has also created a conversation guide called "Why We Stay" to facilitate open conversations between managers and workers, with the goal of increasing employee retention.
Mack also hosts a series of listening sessions with Black Hispanic, and Asian-American/Pacific Islander CSBB leaders. The sessions provide leaders with a safe place to talk about their experiences, while the organization gets a better sense of how to support them.
Mack's interest in banking for everyone and her commitment to DE&I came together through the Open for Business Fund. Mack and her team arranged for Wells to donate the $420 million in gross processing fees it received from Paycheck Protection Program loans during 2020 to nonprofits that support underserved small businesses that the pandemic hit hard. The fund has helped approximately 152,000 small businesses, including those owned by Black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American proprietors. "It's been great to see the impact," Mack said. "It connected the team to purpose."
As part of the bank's effort to support women-owned businesses, Mack's team also introduced "Connect to More," a partnership between Wells Fargo and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center that supports women-owned businesses. Since August 2021, nearly 400 women have received coaching, attended workshops, and connected with business experts and mentors. The CSBB division has also awarded a $1.5 million grant to a national nonprofit organization called "How Women Lead." Its goal is to disrupt the venture capital system which tends to favor businesses owned by men. The grant is given in the hopes it will inspire 10,000 women to invest in venture capital for the first time, ultimately building a $1 billion fund.
Mack's enthusiasm for helping other people finds expression inside Wells Fargo, too. She introduced Loudspeaker, a virtual suggestion box for employees. "The best suggestions come from people serving customers directly, and they're often brilliantly simple," she said. One teller, for instance, suggested that the bank rearrange its drop-down menu so that options were ordered by what she used most, rather than arranged alphabetically.
The best thing about her job, Mack says, are the employees whose careers she fosters. "What I love is that I am in one of the most people-oriented places in our organization," she said. "I get to hire a lot of diverse talent and I have a huge opportunity to promote talent across the operation. It's exciting to help someone start a career."
