Wells Fargo plans 1,000 U.S. job cuts

By Imani Moise

(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it notified about 1,000 employees in its Consumer Lending and Payments, Virtual Solutions and Innovations groups of plans to eliminate their positions.

The layoffs are consistent with the bank's previously announced plans to reduce headcount by up to 10 percent by 2020, spokesman Tom Goyda said. Wells Fargo, the No. 4 U.S. bank by assets, had about 262,000 employees as of Sept. 30.

Most of those affected received 60-day notices, but some received pre-notices, meaning they will get a 60-day notice sometime next year.

About 900 of the layoffs are in the bank's home lending unit, reflecting declines in application volume and the number of customers in default. The cuts will be spread across the United States but are concentrated in Des Moines, Iowa, which is expected to have about 400 reductions, and Fort Mill, South Carolina, which is expected to have 111 cuts.

"We are committed to retaining as many team members as possible and will do everything we can to help them identify other opportunities within Wells Fargo," Goyda said.

Earlier this year, the company announced plans to reduce its overall headcount by up to 26,000 over the next three years to reflect changing consumer preferences as more customers use self-service technology to do their banking.

The cuts are intended to help the bank reach its goal of reducing costs by $4 billion by 2020 as it tries to increase profit and recover from a series of scandals while operating under the Federal Reserve's asset cap.

Over the summer, the bank laid off 600 employees in its mortgage division which has faced challenges due to a slowdown in refinancing demand.

Aside from headcount reductions, Wells Fargo has pledged to lower costs and become more efficient by reducing its branch count by about 800 by 2020 and by selling noncore businesses.

(Reporting by Imani Moise in New York; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Matthew Lewis)