Charlotte, N.C., – Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced it will partner with organizations and schools across the country to introduce their Hands on Banking program.

Hands on Banking/El Futuro en tus manos, created by Wells Fargo in 2004 in partnership with teachers and members of the community, is a free, fun, non-commercial program available in English and Spanish online (www.handsonbanking.org), and through CD ROMs and printed instructional guides. The program teaches people the basics of responsible money management, including how to create a budget, save and invest, borrow responsibly, buy a home and establish a small business. Wells Fargo, which merged Wachovia last year, is now bringing the curriculum to new markets in 16 new states across the East Coast through partnerships with schools and community groups. 

“It’s important during these challenging economic times to provide our customers and communities with the resources they need to understand banking and personal finances,” said Michelle Thornhill, Senior Vice President. “We are excited to launch Hands on Banking as a resource for people in all financial stages of their lives, from a first savings account to retirement planning and everything in-between.”

Since the program launched in 2004, Wells Fargo has distributed more than a million free Hands on Banking CDs to schools, community groups and consumers throughout the country. We’ve also trained more than 4,000 teachers and more than 5,000 Wells Fargo team members to deliver the lessons to schools, community groups, , and other community settings.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,000 stores and 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.  The Company promotes economic growth and self-sufficiency, education, social services, the arts and the environment in thousands of communities across North America.  In 2009, the Company gave $202 million in grants to 18,000 nonprofits.  The merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia makes our presence twice as strong in the communities we serve.  For more about Wells Fargo’s achievements in Social Responsibility: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

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