On 18 May 1995, Wells Fargo became the first bank in the US to give customers free Internet access to current balances in their checking, savings, line of credit and credit card accounts.

Over the last 15 years it has gained a reputation for technological innovation and now claims 17.2 million combined active online customers, 4.2 million bill pay users and three million active mobile bankers. The bank now receives more than two billion online customer visits per year and conducts over 1.2 billion money transfers annually.

In fact, according to recent research sponsored by vendor Fiserv, online banking and bill payment services are now used in over three quarters of US homes with Internet access.

Today, Wells Fargo has upgraded its Smarter Credit Center, an online resource providing information and guidance "to help customers be smarter about credit", and slashed the time required to complete a credit card application by 67%.

Jim Smith, EVP, Internet services group, Wells Fargo, says: "The online channel supports one of Wells Fargo's core values of allowing customers to transact anytime, anywhere in order to meet their needs. Wellsfargo.com is not a stand-alone channel but is integrated with Wells Fargo's banking stores, phone bankers, the ATM network and mobile and text banking."

Wells Fargo also claims to have been the first-to-market - in 2000 - with a financial services portal for mid-sized and large corporations, offering cash and treasury management, investment, procurement, international, trust, and credit and loan services online and in 2005 it introduced a free online money management tool.

In addition, it has long been at the forefront of social media use, tapping Twitter and recently adding an 'environmental stewardship' blog to its roster of channels, including the Guided by History forum, Student LoanDown site, and StageCoach Island virtual community.