Wells Fargo recognized its clients’ demand for digital capabilities within its online and mobile platforms as digital usership grew in the first quarter of 2023.

“Our customers expect us to provide them with increasingly digitized and seamless banking experiences across all channels,” Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said today during the $1.8 trillion bank’s Q1 2023 earnings call.

THE BIG PICTURE: To continue digital implementation throughout the bank, Wells Fargo is shuffling senior executives following yesterday’s announcement that Mary Mack, chief executive of Consumer and Small Business Banking (CSBB) will retire in May, Scharf said.

To follow in Mack’s footsteps, including her business and efficiency efforts, head of technology Saul Van Beurden will take on the role of CEO of CSBB this summer, Scharf said, noting, “Saul is a strong leader, a technologist and he knows how to run a business. … Saul understands this deeply and has consistently proven his ability to convert new products and services across Wells Fargo.”

Additionally, Tracy Kerrins, head of consumer technology, will step up as head of technology.

BY THE NUMBERS: Wells Fargo reported for Q1:

• Revenue increased 17% year over year to $20.7 billion;
• Net income grew 45% YoY to $7.4 billion;
• Tech spend inched up 2% YoY to $9.4 billion, up 12% sequentially; and
• Noninterest expenses fell 1% YoY to $13.7 billion.

NOTEWORTHY: The bank’s digital usership reached 34.3 billion users in Q1, up nearly 2% YoY, according to the earnings supplement. Active mobile users also increased 4% YoY to 28.8 million.

“Digital adoption and usage among our customers continue to increase,” Scharf said. “We added over 500,000 mobile active customers in the first quarter, and digital logins increased 6% from a year ago.”

Digital adoption was credited to the launch of the enhanced digital experience Vantage, which uses AI and machine learning to personalize customer experience, Scharf said.

FLASHBACK: Wells Fargo is working on cloud certification for its 30,000 engineers, an initiative that began at the start of 2022, Chief Technology Officer Steve Hagerman said in Q1 at Bank Automation Summit U.S. 2023 in Charlotte, N.C. The bank’s goal was to reach 50% cloud certification by the end of 2022, and it was 46% at the end of the year.

“We didn’t get all the way to 50%, but we got to 46%, which is pretty remarkable,” Hagerman said.

MARKET REACTION: Wells Fargo’s stock was down 0.05% to $39.64 at market close today, compared with $39.66 at market close Thursday.

FUTURE LOOK: The bank decreased its headcount in Q1 by 4% to 236,000 and expects the team to shrink further looking ahead, Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said during the call.

“We continued to reduce headcount in the first quarter, and we expect staffing levels will continue to decline due to the strategic changes we announced earlier this year.”

[stock_market_widget type=”inline” template=”generic” assets=”WFC” markup=”{name} ({symbol}) is trading at {price} ({change_pct}) as of {last_update}” display_currency_symbol=”true” api=”yf”]