SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC - News) today announced the nationwide availability of its newest online bill pay feature, which allows customers to make “just in time” online bill payments to merchants, such as utility, auto finance and mortgage companies. The service helps customers avoid missing payments or making late payments.

According to Javelin Strategy & Research, nearly three out of four consumers initiated expedited payments last year and use is expected to continue to rise in the next five years.

“The launch of same day payments further highlights Wells Fargo’s commitment to listening to our customers and continued leadership and innovation in the online space,” said Adam Vancini, senior vice president of Wells Fargo Internet Services Group. “Our customers continue to discover the convenience and speed of paying bills electronically; the expedited payments service is an additional online bill pay option.”

Currently Wells Fargo offers same day payment options for a fee with a select group of payees; additional payees continue to be added on an ongoing basis. Wells Fargo teamed up with Western Union for the service.

“Western Union is pleased to join an industry leader like Wells Fargo to provide expedited bill payment,” said Ranjana Clark, executive vice president, Global Payments and Global Strategy. “Through its Global Payment Services division, Western Union is an expert in connecting consumers with billers. We understand that under current economic circumstances, consumers are managing their budgets more closely than ever and are looking for options that allow them to pay bills quickly, conveniently and without incurring costly late charges.”

Wells Fargo integrates customers’ bill pay data with optional online tools, such as its online budgeting tool:
My Spending Report with Budget Watch and archiving service Wells Fargo vSafe^SM.

• Wells Fargo’s bill pay service presents bills online for nearly 460 merchants, lenders and other billers.
• Wells Fargo’s online and mobile bill pay alerts give customers more control by notifying them when bills arrive, if a bill didn’t arrive, when a bill is due, when a payment is sent, among other notifications.
• With Wells Fargo Mobile, bill pay customers can schedule payments and pay bills with their mobile device while waiting in line, on a break, or anywhere else they want to access the mobile web or WF.com.

About Wells Fargo Online & Mobile Banking

Wells Fargo is a leading provider of online and mobile financial services for individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, money movement, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products. Wells Fargo launched its personal computer banking service in 1989 and was the first bank to offer Internet banking through wellsfargo.com in May 1995. Since January 2009, Wells Fargo has been named the No. 1 Consumer Internet Bank in the United States by Global Finance Magazine, ranked the No. 1 website out of 68 leading U.S. corporations' websites for technology innovation by the Brookings Institution and was awarded two Monarch Innovation Awards by Barlow Research for online services for small business, including Foreign Exchange Online and My Spending Report with Budget Watch.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,000 stores and 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.

Wells Fargo & Company
Andrea Mahoney, 415-222-4722 (Media)

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