Wells Fargo ramps up tech banking push with biggest talent investment in two decades

Wells Fargo & Co., an American multinational financial services company, is planning to make its largest investment in tech banking talent in over 20 years.

According to Tom Harper, who leads the team, the firm aims to increase its workforce to roughly 10 more bankers to its tech team this year after adding roughly 20 in 2024.

This move marks a significant milestone for Wells Fargo, reflecting its deepening focus on technology clients and expanding its role in the sector.

“This is the largest investment in our technology banking team since we launched it more than two decades ago,” said Harper. “We’ve been quietly growing as we attract relationships, and we’ll continue to invest in this space.”

The tech-banking expansion comes as Wells Fargo overhauls its commercial banking business, accounting for about 15% of its net revenue.

Furthermore, besides lending to tech companies in various ways, such as financing secured by software receivables, Wells Fargo also seeks to participate in M&A, debt and equity capital markets transactions, and equity investments in tech companies.

Wells Fargo develops a new plan to bounce back from the regional banking crisis that rocked it in 2023

The 2023 regional banking crisis sparked a significant disruption in U.S. tech banking as companies rushed to relocate their funds following the collapse of key players like Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank.

In the meantime, Wells Fargo concentrated on supporting its current customers while taking a cautious approach to forming new partnerships, doing so “strategically as possible,” said Division Executive Tom Harper.

In addition, Harper said they had been gradually growing as they made those connections. He said this would also mean maintaining investment in this sector and converting prospective clients to relationship clients.

Five years ago, the company established a specialized industry group within commercial banking, designating industry specialists to provide loans to middle-market companies in eleven different segments.

In January 2024, Mary Katherine DuBose was appointed the specialized industry group leader, and Harper reported to her. Afterward, the position was promoted to the point where DuBose now answered directly to commercial banking CEO Kyle Hranicky.

Harper highlighted that the strategy aimed to better align Wells Fargo’s commercial bankers with personnel and assets across other functions, including wealth management, investment banking, and treasury management.

For example, he collaborated closely with Gerry Walters, head of technology at investment banking, specializing in mergers and acquisitions advisory and capital markets.

Wells Fargo pushes forward, but asset cap still restricts growth

In the technology sector, apart from Wells Fargo lending from its balance sheet in several ways and seeking to participate in M&A, debt, and equity capital markets transactions, Harper mentioned that the bank was also a limited partner in the venture and growth equity investment firm Norwest Venture Partners and made equity investments in tech companies that offer products that would benefit Wells Fargo.

Despite this, Wells Fargo remains under an asset cap, banning it from growing assets beyond its 2017 size of about $1.95 trillion.

Meanwhile, following his appointment as CEO in October 2019, Charlie Scharf withdrew from some sectors, like mortgages, and pushed for expansion in others, like credit cards and investment banking, to address growth.

As a result, Wells Fargo’s total commercial loans increased from $503.4 billion at the end of 2017 to $540.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025. However, Over the same period, its consumer loans, which faced the greatest regulatory challenges in sectors like home and auto lending, decreased from $453.4 billion to $373.1 billion.

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