Wells Fargo Bank this week announced its wholesale banking offerings to Canadian businesses will be expanded with the opening of formal deposit-taking branch offices. Canadian authorities gave approval for the move in September, allowing Wells Fargo to carry out a banking business (lending and deposit-taking) with corporate customers in Canada.
Rick Rothacker of Money.msn.com quotes Rick Valade, the bank’s country manager for Canada:
“We’re not looking to compete directly with them [the Canadian banks]. In most circumstances, we’re truly taking our customer relationships that we have in the U.S. and being able to service those needs in Canada.”
Rothacker continued:
“The bank has added 25 employees in its banking operations and will likely double that over the next year, said Rick Valade, Wells’ country manager for Canada. Overall, it has about 75 people in offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.”
The bank’s new offerings in Canada will focus on various kinds of commercial and special purpose lending, treasury management functions, and foreign exchange and trade services. Wells Fargo will build on existing cross-border relationships among corporate customers. For several years, the bank’s commercial card offerings have already included not only Canadian dollar-denominated cards, but also specialized services for settlement of those accounts via Canadian ACH payments.
Click here to read more from MSN.