Spotlight On: Damien Haitsuka, North Florida, South Georgia Coastal Regional Executive, Wells Fargo
September 2024 — Wells Fargo North Florida, South Georgia Coastal Region Executive Damien Haitsuka recently spoke with Invest: about the measures by which Wells Fargo’s digital expansions have streamlined the banking experience and the ways in which Wells Fargo is dedicated to the financial growth of the communities it serves.
What key contributions has Wells Fargo made to Jacksonville over the past year?
Our impact on Jacksonville can be broken down into two main aspects. Firstly, through our commitment to the Jacksonville market with an extensive branch network of 93 branches in the North Florida area, spanning as far east as Daytona, south to New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, all the way to the northernmost tip of the state, and west to Pensacola, including about 40 branches in the Greater Jacksonville area alone.
We are modernizing our branch distribution by revamping our branches. Around seven scheduled branch refurbishments are taking place this year to kick off this work, which involve completely renovating the inside of each bank into a format that is less transaction-focused and more service, advice and guidance focused.
Secondly, we continue to show our support for Jacksonville through our local giving, support and dedication to nonprofit organizations. By partnering with organizations like the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, LISC, as well as various programs and nonprofits that focus on financial health and housing affordability, we help address local community issues challenging the local market.
Which products or services do you expect to be the main drivers of growth in Wells Fargo’s near future?
Wells Fargo Premier offers basic services, such as checking and savings, while also helping customers achieve their financial goals. Premier is a team-based approach involving branches to assist with every-day matters and advisers to assist with more complex issues.
Our Active Cash credit card has been a huge success, where much like the Signify business card, is filling a gap that exists in today’s cash rewards business credit card market. Active Cash hit the ground running hard and our consumers are loving it.
We are trying to constantly remove complexities from how we serve customers, and one way we mitigate this challenge is through the digital account opening process. If a customer walks in and wants to open a checking account, the banker will have the customer open their phone and walk them through a blended experience of our digital capabilities, while providing service and guidance.
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How have client expectations shifted recently regarding banking?
What we know is that clients want to bank how, when and where they want. Whether it’s digital, online, or in a branch, customers want to have those options and to have the same excellent experience across the board. Customers want a frictionless experience without any muddy waters. They want banking to be easy, efficient and fast but not without quality, so when we’re looking at service platforms, that’s what the people behind the scenes are reviewing. We are continuously looking to modernize our distribution methods, so that when a customer walks into a branch, we are prepared to help with each unique need.
How is Wells Fargo leveraging technology and innovation to operate more efficiently?
We recently introduced a digital capability which allows customers to open accounts on their phones, so consumers now have the option for blended experiences where they can bank in-person at our branches or at home.
We launched our AI-powered virtual assistant in our mobile app, Fargo, in English and Spanish. Fargo brings a concierge-like experience to the app – customers are able to get answers to their everyday banking questions and, rather than having to search to accomplish a task, customers can ask Fargo to complete certain tasks for them.
LifeSync is another new feature within our app that allows customers to track their financial goals in real time. On the small-business side, we launched the Signify cash card, in response to our small-business customers’ feedback, which is filling a gap that exists in today’s cash rewards business credit card market, putting value and simplicity in the hands of business owners.
How does Wells Fargo differentiate itself from its competitors?
Our competitive edge is our people, and their feedback is very important to us. We are also intentional with our products and services, as shown by our new Active Cash card and Signify card. We look at multiple factors to ensure that we are competitive via our rates and branches.
We’ve also done a lot to invest in our communities, and we have great relationships with local nonprofits. We have poured into those relationships over the years, and our customers can see that. Through these relationships, we also have a better understanding of what are the current needs of our local communities.
What are some of the greatest challenges faced by both Wells Fargo and the banking industry as a whole?
When looking at the present economy, some elements are progressing quite well, but there are also challenging elements at play. The housing market is robust, but housing affordability continues to be an obstacle for people, especially mortgage rates, as well as other issues like grocery prices. People are having to make smarter decisions with their money.
We are working on supporting our customers through these difficult decisions by way of innovations in our app, from our skilled, well-knowledged bankers helping customers budget, save and track spending to monitoring our clients’ financial growth, FICO and credit scores.
Jacksonville’s small-business market is strong and Florida is highly-ranked for women-owned businesses. There may be uncertainty in the market; however, there is ample opportunity for small-business growth, and we encourage our customers to utilize all available tools because they are there to help our clients succeed. Every client’s experience is unique, and we try to tailor banking to each individual customer’s needs.
Consumer fraud is also a heightened issue, and we are trying to educate and protect our clients as much as we can. We provide advice, such as what to look for and reminders not to click on any links you do not know. We have pop-ups within our app to ensure customers validate recipients before sending transfers and send notices about the manners in which Wells Fargo would or would not contact consumers.
What are your goals for Wells Fargo over the next three to five years?
Wells Fargo continues to be committed to being present in the places we know our customers are counting on us to serve them. We continue to work on our team members’ satisfaction as well as customer service. Wells Fargo strives to deliver the advice and guidance our customers need.
Wells Fargo remains committed to our communities, shown by how we’ve dedicated ourselves over the years to demonstrating that we’re invested not only in our branch network but also in the market. We need to make sure we’re doing our part to ensure our surrounding communities are healthy, through avenues like housing affordability, sustainability, small business support and financial health.
Lastly, our network continues investing to ensure we have modern branches and enhanced digital capabilities, with more to come as we continue to build. Essentially, Wells Fargo’s path forward involves paying attention to industry trends and operating responsibly in our response to those trends, whether it’s in our product offerings or in how we serve customers.
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