Incorrect Format

Why should users be forced to correct and resubmit a form because they didn't properly format an otherwise valid phone number?

We have the technology. I can think of no good reason for a company with net profits of over a billion dollars per month to not create software that doesn't force users into entering contact phone numbers in the format required by a back-end software system.

And why did they ask me for my phone number? They have my phone number. I've been a customer for over 20 years. They should know how to contact me.

Mobile Banking

I use Wells Fargo's mobile banking application to view account information and transfer funds between accounts when I am away from a computer.  The application makes transfers easy, but viewing account information isn't as easy as I had expected for a mobile application - an application one uses while mobile.

I expect a mobile banking application to give me quick access to information. While it may only have a sub-set of features available in a desktop or fully-featured web application, I expect a mobile banking application to make whatever features it does support quick and easy to use while on the go. This isn't the case with the Wells Fargo mobile banking application.


On the full Wells Fargo web site, I can quickly view account registers that details on posted and pending transactions. I see something like the image below -- a single table showing details on transactions. I can see what money went where when. Although masked in the image below, it even identifies whether debit card purchases came from my card or my wife's card.

However, the mobile application and web site give me a list without description of where the money was spent. It gives me a list like that shown in the image below.

Debit card purchases show up as "PURCHASE"; without a vendor name.



If I want to see details on purchases, I have to select and view each one individually.


This is not efficient. In most cases, I find viewing account registers easier using the full web site on my tiny mobile phone screen than use the mobile application or site.

An Interruption

After inserting my ATM card and PIN, I select the option (an automatically generated button) to repeat a recent past activity: withdraw $40 from my primary checking account. In the past, selecting this option has resulted in the ATM dispensing cash and returning my card without further interaction.

However, this time, an unexpected pop-up dialog window fills the screen.



Is there a problem here?

• The familiar option to quickly repeat my last ATM transaction (withdraw $40 from checking) is interrupted by an unexpected request.
• My email address is displayed large enough for others waiting to use the machine to read. (The above dialog nearly fills the large ATM monitor.)
• The title of the dialog mentions emailing ATM receipts but the big green button says something about "Favorites".
• The dialog doesn't ask a question that is clearly linked to the response buttons. It says to "Press yes", but doesn't clearly state what happens if I press the "No" button.
• The dialog text mentions "this Favorite button" but doesn't identify what is "this" or what is a "Favorite button". It doesn't seem to be any of the buttons currently displayed.
• The dialog includes "set this Favorite button", "New Favorite", and "update my Favorites" without identifying what these are. Are these all the same thing? If so, why use different phrases to refer to the same thing?
• Does emailing a receipt mean I don't get a printed receipt now? What if I want a paper receipt and an email? What if I want the receipt emailed this time but not "always"?

It may seem that pointing these out is nitpicking, but the inconsistencies, ambiguity, lack of privacy, and unexpected appearance of this dialog added confusion to what is typically an quick activity that doesn't require much thought.  Few people actually want to use an ATM; most just want to get their money.

And to top it all off, pausing to repeatedly read and understand this dialog triggered a timeout that made the machine beep loudly and drew attention to me and the machine. 

Security Questions

Wells Fargo requires that I provide answers for four of the following "Security Questions". I can't come up with four of these for which I will have a consistent answer that I'd consider to be secure (not known by others) enough to use as a security question.

Are people typically so shallow in their thinking that they have consistent answers for these that aren't known by others?

And if I actually cared about all these things, these are things I would not want to share with any financial institution. Let's make things less secure by giving every website we use even more personal information. I think not!

Legitimate banks will not ask you to do this

According to Firefox, Wells Fargo is not a legitimate bank. I encounter security certificate errors about one out of every five visits to Wells Fargo's online banking web site.

Wells Fargo gave me a t-shirt with this URL on it. As we all know, printing a URL on a t-shirt makes it legit. Right? ;)

And why does Firefox first tell me the certificate is not valid but then report "This site provides valid, verified identification. There is no need to add an exception." when I try to add an exception?

Perhaps Wells Fargo should send the Firefox people at Mozilla some t-shirts too.

Come back?

Come back to bill pay? I haven't paid any bills with Online Bill Pay?

I last paid a bill with this service only two days ago.

What happens if I click "No thanks"? Will this disable a service I use or just make this message go away?

If Wells Fargo's systems can't remember that I have, and continue to use their service, why should I expect them to remember to pay the bills?