Depositors at Wells Fargo Can’t Bank on Receipts

It was a minor change, considering the huge effort Wells Fargo Bank was putting into the renovation of its computer-aided teller stations. But Bob Chapman of Laguna Niguel noticed it immediately.

Chapman no longer was handed a receipt when he deposited money in his personal or business accounts or made payments on a loan.

Instead, he received a “transaction record.”

“A month ago, I was in the Laguna Hills branch and got a receipt,” he said. “Now it’s a transaction record. They won’t stamp and sign the deposit book anymore. I have to fight with them to get them to initial the slip of paper they give me.”

What concerned him even more, Chapman said, was that a Wells Fargo official told him the transaction records were not the same as receipts. That, he figured, meant he would not have as much protection as he would with a receipt if a dispute arose over his deposits or payments.

Data Processing Consultant

Chapman, a data processing consultant who specializes in computer software security, said his business dealings have taught him that computer-generated paper has little legal standing in court without a signature.

The bank acknowledged that other customers have questioned tellers and branch managers about the change, and about a dozen have been concerned enough to call or write Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco to find out why they no longer received receipts.

Actually, said Lane Brennan, one of Wells Fargo’s staff attorneys, it doesn’t matter what the piece of paper is called or whether it is signed by the teller.

“What will be important in law is whose record it is,” Brennan said. “If the bank is in control of generating the record, the bank will have the burden in any dispute of overcoming anything the record says.”

Customer Controls

The records spewed out by automated teller machines, for instance, would carry less weight because the customer is in control of what goes on the transaction record, he said.

Someone who tries to pad his account by depositing a blank envelope in a teller machine, he said, would have a difficult time proving he was due any money. Most banks have two employees emptying the machine to verify the contents of deposit envelopes.

So why change receipts to transaction records? It was done purely to standardize forms, Brennan said. The bank’s automated teller machines also issue transaction records.

Wells Fargo renovated its computer operation to speed up the lines at teller windows, said Kim Kellogg, a bank spokeswoman. The bank is trying reduce the time customers wait in lines to five minutes, and processing transactions by computer is an integral part of the plan, she said.

The new transaction records also give customers more information, such as the bank’s policy on holding checks. It also provides details of the transaction, including the branch where the transaction was processed and the teller who processed it.

Kellogg said the bank is rolling out its new computer-assisted teller stations in various regions throughout the state. So far, 175 of the bank’s 436 branches have the new program, and all branches are scheduled to be on line by May 1, she said. The new program started in much of Orange County on March 1, she said.

Faster Lines

Even Chapman said he has noticed that lines are moving quicker at Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo’s customers aren’t alone. Of the four major banks in the state, only tellers at First Interstate Bank of California give receipts to customers. The others give alternatives to receipts.

At Security Pacific National Bank, customers have been receiving computerized transaction records for some time, said Kathy Wedeking, a bank spokeswoman. Security Pacific tellers, however, routinely stamp and initial the record and, if asked, tell customers the record is the same as a receipt.

At Bank of America, tellers handle deposits and payments the old-fashioned way. They give customers a duplicate deposit slip that contains deposit or payment information they write out. The slip is dated, stamped and signed by the teller, said Tom Chapman, a bank spokesman.

At First Interstate, customers are given slips that state, in part: “Always obtain a registered receipt when making a deposit. This is your registered receipt.”