Big Banks vs Blockchain Technology (Jan. 17, 2020) – Wells Fargo’s system & technology is so ancient that customers are leaving the bank in trove for newer and better ones. How did the company that pioneered online banking get here?
From pioneer to primitive
Yes indeed, Wells Fargo was the first bank in the United States to allow customers to participate in online banking in the early 90s.
However, fast forward to 2020, the once ‘king of online banking’ is now struggling to get new customers to sign up, keep the ones they have, and their data center, located in Minnesota keeps getting hacked.
How fast and deep is Wells Fargo sinking?
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently released a report on Wells Fargo’s obsolete banking system and it’s not looking good at all.
According to the report, the bank’s archaic technology is in its deathbed and desperately in need of a miracle cure or it will succumb to its injuries, sooner than expected.
Old system, new features
Despite the fact that Wells Fargo upgraded sections of the old system to include contact-less debit cards, card-free ATMs and faster mortgage applications online.
However, the efforts may be too little too late and have not gone far enough to save the company from going under.
Management simply don’t care
To add insult to injuries, there are circulating reports that executives in the upper echelon are feeling indifferent. In other words, they simply don’t give a damn.
For example, a former project manager named Mark McAllister, who worked on the Apple Pay monitoring division between 2014 and 2019, reported several issues plaguing the company.
McAllister reported issues such as missing documents, manual processing and verification to his bosses. He was fired because he had become a “nuisance” for taking his job too serious.
Comes the Wall Street Journal reports
During the same period, WSJ released the reports claiming Wells Fargo was facing some serious technical issues. Among them are cybersecurity, software vulnerabilities due to lack of proper and outdated coding.
In 2nd quarter of 2019, Wells Fargo’s online banking was hacked and taken offline for hours.
Blockchain technology to Wells Fargo rescue?
Who or what can really save the failing bank from becoming a victim of its own success? Enters blockchain technology.
Wells Fargo needs the blockchain, but more so the blockchain-powered international transactions processing firm, Ripple (Read about Ripple here).
Charles Scharf, Wells Fargo newly hired CEO said “we need to be a technology company.” Shortly after, Saul Van Beurden, the company’s tech guru sent a statement to media outlets outlining his priorities for the coming years: hiring talents, fixing servers so they don’t get hacked and working on handling complaints.
Digital systems and man power account for a great amount of big banks expenses. It’s time Wells Fargo tries something new, giving that they urgently need new tech to upgrade their ailing systems.
Why not try blockchain technology? The blockchain, known for its distributed ledger technology (DLT) can help secure Wells Fargo’s data center, prevent hacking, improve speed and transparency.
Benefits of a Wells Fargo & Ripple partnership?
As a matter of fact, a stablecoin is on the work at the bank. It’s expected to be launched sometimes this year (2020). A stablecoin after publicly disavowed blockchain first cryptocurrency; Bitcoin?
Who’s more equipped than Ripple to help the bank saves itself from completely going under. WF urgently needs to call Ripple’s CEO, Bradley Garlinghouse and cut a deal.
‘We Need to Be a Technology Company.’ Wells Fargo Struggles With Aging Systems.
Brad Garlinghouse had said it earlier in 2019 that by the end of 2020 half of the worlds largest banks will be using XRP.
Wells Fargo is the 13th largest bank#XRP #xrparmyhttps://t.co/HvMn7S2gEZ
— XRP Enabled (@XRPEnabled) January 12, 2020
Ripple will definitely benefit from the publicity. However, the bank stands to get the most from a Ripple-Wells Fargo partnership. Garlinghouse can help WF with transaction security, speed, and solve a host of other problems.
Mathieu is a Information technology professional with over 15 years of experience. He started one of the first bitcoin blogs existed in 2010. He started writing about, investing in bitcoin and promoting the first cryptocurrency when only a few technological savvy people knew about it. Mathieu is a world traveler who enjoys culture, technology, finance, salmon, rice and beans. He’s cool, collected and knows a great deal about blockchain technology.
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