Innovation

A green path to a sustainable future

The following selection of archival artifacts reflects Wells Fargo’s commitment to creating a more sustainable future.

Why Y2K wasn’t the OMG the world feared

How millennial era banks prepared for Y2K to ensure that a worldwide crisis never happened.

Before apps, there was an agent for that

In the last half of the 1800s, Wells Fargo’s network of hundreds of agents would take care of a customer’s personal or commercial business by commission.

Secret codes that kept transactions safe

In the 1800s, the telegraph allowed Wells Fargo to help customers transfer money securely. To minimize risk, the company used a system of encryption with secret codes.

Charter Number 1

In the 1860s, the federal government created a new type of bank to provide standardization for bank customers. The First National Bank of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania was the first of its kind.

First in online banking

As more customers used computers in their daily lives, Wells Fargo innovated new tools to improve their banking experience. In 1995, they created the first online banking platform.

Dispensing money like magic

What started with a willingness to test new technologies in the 1970s has led to an innovative fleet of more than 11,000 ATMs.

The early days of banking on the go

The introduction of motor banks in the 1930s made banking more convenient for customers — and led to future innovations.

Funding technology for the sight impaired

A Wells Fargo business loan helped people with blindness and low vision gain more access to reading materials.

Our champions of recycling in the 1970s

Wells Fargo’s first recycling program began in the 1970s — and has led to decades of sustainability and corporate responsibility.

That time we invested in “a damn fool idea”

Learn about Philo T. Farnsworth’s invention — and how backing from a bank helped bring TV into homes today.

Funding the industry’s first video games

How the company’s funding of Silicon Valley enterprises helped start the video game industry.

Uncorking e-commerce

The e-commerce revolution began in December 1994 when a small business worked with Wells Fargo to process credit card purchases online for the first time.

Video

Yesterday’s revolutionary form of currency

Uncover the surprising evolution of money from handwritten papers to digital payments.

Funding a solar revolution

An energy crisis and a growing environmental movement created the first commercial solar projects in the 1970s, funded by Wells Fargo.