Wells Fargo
American retail bank with one of the country’s largest branch networks, and the only bank the Federal Reserve ever capped in size.
8 figures on Wells Fargo, drawn from 4 Modern MBA case studies.
The figures
US dollars3
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Swipe fees against reward costs and partner payments, 2023, in billions · Swipe fees | $6B | 5th of 5 · top $33B | How credit card companies actually make money |
| Revenue of the big bank credit card divisions and the payment networks, 2024, in billions | $6B | 9th of 9 · top $61B | How credit card companies actually make money |
| Swipe fees against reward costs and partner payments, 2023, in billions · Rewards & partner payments | −$3B | 1st of 5 · worst −$25B | How credit card companies actually make money |
Percentages2
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin of the leading data-driven Fortune 500 companies, 2013 against 2023 · 2013 | 40% | 1st of 12 · top 40% | Why AI is just big data again |
| Operating margin of the leading data-driven Fortune 500 companies, 2013 against 2023 · 2023 | 20% | 4th of 12 · top 36% | Why AI is just big data again |
Counts2
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit cards in circulation by issuing bank, 2024, in millions | 20M | 5th of 6 · top 154M | How credit card companies actually make money |
| US locations against the leading banks | 7,146 | 2nd of 7 · top 60,000 | How Western Union makes money from the unbanked |
Durations1
| Against its own chart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration of chief executive searches at large companies, in months | 6 mo | 6th of 9 · top 13.5 mo | Why Chipotle got so much worse |
Case studies covering Wells Fargo
Case study — FinanceHow credit card companies actually make moneyThe swipe fee is not the business. The interest is — and the networks taking the blame were founded by the banks collecting it.15 min read
Case study — Food & beverageWhy Chipotle got so much worseA weekly staple became a byword for small portions and high prices in under ten years. Here is what broke.10 min read
Case study — FinanceHow Western Union makes money from the unbankedIt has more US locations than Chase, Wells Fargo, Citi, Capital One and Bank of America have branches combined.11 min read
Case study — TechnologyWhy AI is just big data againBig data was sold for a decade and produced nothing. The same players are running the identical playbook with AI.15 min read