Dive Brief:
- Wells Fargo named Kleber Santos CEO of consumer lending, replacing Mike Weinbach, who held the role since April 2020, the San Francisco-based bank announced Monday.
- Santos, who has served as Wells Fargo’s head of diverse segments, representation and inclusion (DSRI) since November 2020, will continue to report to CEO Charlie Scharf and will remain a member of the bank’s operating committee. Santos will also continue as head of DSRI while the bank conducts a search for a permanent replacement, the bank said.
- The transition comes as Wells Fargo continues to face scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers over reports of discrimination in its home lending division.
Dive Insight:
“Kleber is a proven leader, having built our DSRI function over the past two years, and having driven significant outcomes in both representation and inclusion,” Scharf said in a statement. “In addition to his leadership experience at Wells Fargo, he brings significant consumer lending and retail banking expertise to his new role. I’m confident that his capabilities and his drive will help us continue to strengthen Consumer Lending and prepare it for future growth.”
Weinbach, who joined Wells Fargo to head the bank’s consumer-lending unit soon after it was launched as its own line of business, will depart in mid-September, the bank said.
“Mike and I have been discussing his desire to do something different, and we recently agreed that now is the right time,” Scharf said. “I wish him well in his future endeavors, which I am confident he will meet with great success.”
Wells Fargo’s consumer-lending business includes auto lending, credit cards, merchant services, personal lending and home lending, the latter of which has come under fire from lawmakers over reports of a gap — along racial lines — in the acceptance of mortgage refinance applications.
A March analysis of federal mortgage data by Bloomberg found that the bank approved 47% of mortgage refinance applications from Black borrowers in 2020 but 72% from White borrowers.
Wells Fargo denied any wrongdoing, saying the wire service’s investigation “ignored” that the bank helped more Black homeowners refinance their mortgages than any other major lender.
The report, however, prompted Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Ron Wyden, D-OR, to request that the bank provide them with the data and algorithms it used in 2020 and 2021 to evaluate mortgage refinance applications.
Wells Fargo has also been downsizing its mortgage lending division since April, calling the staff cuts a “natural result of cyclical changes in the broader home lending environment.”
Wells Fargo cited figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association that predict a 40% year-over-year drop in mortgage originations — to $2.4 trillion — in 2022. Further, the trade group expects a 70% downturn in mortgage refinancing, according to the bank.
