New boss for card division in eye of storm at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo has tabbed Beverly Anderson to head its cards and retail services division, a job that she has held on an interim basis since March.

The division includes the San Francisco bank’s consumer credit card unit, which Anderson headed for several years. Also included are Wells Fargo’s store-branded credit card business and a separate unit that focuses on card collections and servicing.

The cards and retail services division has been a central part of the unauthorized-sales scandal that has enveloped Wells Fargo for the past 11 months.

The division was previously headed by Shelley Freeman, a longtime Wells executive. But she was fired in February. A subsequent report by a committee of the company’s board blamed Freeman for creating a high-pressure sales environment during her earlier tenure as Los Angeles regional president.

Anderson, who joined Wells Fargo in 2012, is a former American Express executive.