LESS CHARGES, MORE PURCHASES: WELLS FARGO ON FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY.

Wells Fargo as a G-SIB

The concept of externalities in trade is a well-known and well-researched topic across various businesses relating to international business. In the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis, financial institutions made up a very large percentage of the accelerated nature of the crisis. With stocks toppling by the minutes and traders losing so much in short spates, the turmoil at Wallstreet only exacerbated the crisis (Erkens et al., 2012).  It was therefore no surprise that the United Nations in the aftermath of that recession labelled some financial institutions as Globally Systematically Important (GSI). This alluded the power some Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) wield in the day-to-day activities across the globe. Wells Fargo being one of the globally prolific banks has as such being wheeled into a group known with reference to the United Nations SDGs as Global Systematic Important Financial Institutions (G-SIFIs). Then as such, Wells Fargo, like all other financial institutions within this caveat have a lot to do with regard to financial liberation and independence of individuals across diverse continents in the world.

Alleviation of Poverty. How?

How can such an institution contribute to the alleviation of poverty across the globe? The concept of Multi-National Enterprises doing more Foreign Direct Investments in developing countries come to play. The concept of Base of Pyramid (BOP) investments has drawn the attention of several scholars in various disciplines. In as much this concept have received a few criticisms about its ultimate intent (Guth,2009; Levy, 2007), its contribution to promoting financial accessibility for all and sundry courtesy of private firms who do not have to wait for any long bureaucratic bottlenecks in other to make an impact across the globe cannot also be downplayed (Kolk, Rivera-Santos, and Rufin, 2014). As a financial institution, Wells Fargo has taken a step of goodwill towards alleviating poverty through financial accessibility in the areas of housing accessibility and small business growth (www.wellsfargo.com).

BoP's as tools for poverty alleviation

 In what context is this Base of Pyramid investment being utilized by Wells Fargo? According an update on the site, in 2019 alone, the bank pushed an amount of $455 million dollars into different grants across the globe. These grants trickle down to Metropolitans, Municipals and District Assemblies in countries like Ghana amongst others as donor funds for the championing of causes such as the eradication of poverty, creation of community centers, building of hospitals and most importantly the creation of more jobs for the youth of such communities. These are the ripple effects of grants from multi-national enterprises. If MNEs wield such power within our communities, does there exist a cohesion of the SDGs and the way these MNEs operate all towards the achievement of these SDGs? Talks of Green Patents, Blue Patents among other more recent term such as Responsible Research and Innovation are some of the main topical issues of discussion in relation to the contribution of multi-national enterprises to SDGs.

In conclusion, Wells Fargo has chartered a path towards financial accessibility through its investments in different facets of society but further this cause; in a piece posted on the Bank’s site, they made known the creation of new credit cards with lesser charges and there again as a bank, they were able to introduce an economical transacting account with moderate charges to allow more individuals regardless of the financial status to benefit from the myriad of financial talents the bank boasts of in a bid to aid them manage their finances towards financial freedom. With less charges, the purchasing power of consumers increases thus affecting the overall financial freedom of the person and alleviating poverty in the long run- That is Wells Fargo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Erkens, D.H., Hung, M. and Matos, P., 2012. Corporate governance in the 2007–2008 financial crisis: Evidence from financial institutions worldwide. Journal of corporate finance, 18(2), pp.389-411.

Guth, W.D. (2009). Developing new avenues for growth: Challenges presented by five trends in the global environment. Journal of International Management, 15(3). 251-261.

Levy, B. (2007). The interface between globalization, trade and development: Theoretical issues for international business studies. International Business Review, 16(5), 594-612.

Roy, A., and Goll, I. (2014). Predictors of various facets of sustainability of nations: The role of cultural and economic factors. International Business Review, 23(5), 849-861.

De Lange, D. E. (2013). Embedded diasporas: Shaping the geopolitical landscape. Journal of International Management, 19(1), 14-25

Kolk. A., Rivera-Santo, M., and Rufin, C. R. (2014). Reviewing a decade of research on the "base/bottom of the pyramid" (BOP) concept. Business and Society, 53(3), 338-377.

https://stories.wf.com/supporting-communities-wells-fargos-455m-impact [Accessed on 23rd February, 2023 at 6:00pm