Wells Fargo Brand Expanding in Canada

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – Trans Canada Credit Corporation, the consumer finance business that has served Canadians for more than 60 years, announced today it has changed its name effective Jan. 1 to Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada. The company remains a Canadian-based and Canadian-managed business, with headquarters in Mississauga.

“There’s a new name on the door, but our customers will still experience the same great products and services they have always received from our business,” said Rick Valade, president of Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada. “The Wells Fargo brand is synonymous with financial strength for consumer customers in Canada, where we offer a broad range of products and services to our customers. We are a growing company that shares the vision articulated throughout all of Wells Fargo – to help our customers succeed financially and to be the premier provider of financial services in every one of our markets.”

Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada’s parent company is Wells Fargo Financial, the consumer finance subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). Wells Fargo Financial acquired Trans Canada Credit in November 1992 and operated it under that name until today.

Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada operates 168 consumer stores in all 10 provinces of Canada and has a network of more than 3,400 merchants and hundreds of mortgage brokers across Canada. The company focuses on real estate-secured loans, personal loans and sales finance receivables as well as automobile financing and private-label credit card financing through other Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada entities. Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada and its affiliated entities have $3.35 billion in receivables.

Team members at Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada have been working for nearly a year to prepare for the name change. Among the many tasks they have completed are notification mailings to more than 2.5 million customers, clients and vendors; changing and revising more than 5,000 printed and system- generated forms, and; replacing signs at store locations, which will occur over the next 60 days.

One element of the name change project is creation of a new French logo and corporation name, Societe financiere Wells Fargo Canada, to be used in Quebec. It represents the first time a Wells Fargo entity has conducted business under a French name.

“This rebranding of our business represents an exciting opportunity for our customers and our more than 1,600 team members across Canada to be identified with one of the most stable and recognizable brands not only in the financial services business, but in any industry,” Valade said. “The Wells Fargo brand dates back to the company’s founding in 1852.”

Wells Fargo Financial, a unit of Wells Fargo & Company, is a $34 billion (U.S. dollars) company providing consumer installment and home equity lending, automobile financing, consumer and private-label credit cards and commercial services to consumers and businesses. The company has approximately 18,250 employees and operates in 48 U.S. states, the 10 provinces of Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Pacific Rim. It is based in Des Moines, Iowa. More information about Wells Fargo Financial is available at www.wellsfargofinancial.com.

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $422 billion (U.S. dollars) in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance to more than 23 million customers from more than 6,000 stores and the Internet (www.wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only “Aaa”- rated bank in the United States. Visit Wells Fargo at http://www.wellsfargo.com .

Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada is associated with Wells Fargo & Company, a company that is not regulated in Canada as a financial institution, a bank holding company or an insurance holding company.