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July 22, 2004
Wachovia Launches Spanish-language Web Site
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) announced today it has launched a financial Web site in Spanish, www.wachovia.com/español, offering Hispanic consumers and other Spanish-speaking customers in the United States access to a full-service site where they can manage many of their banking needs on the Internet.
The new site has the same look and feel as wachovia.com, Wachovia's English-language Web site. And with information and product offerings in Spanish, the site makes it easy for consumers to obtain banking information and apply for accounts online.
"The Internet channel was the logical next step in our Spanish-language offering," said Jorge Möller, vice president of Wachovia's Hispanic Segment Strategy. "Today about one-third of Hispanics are online users, and Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States. We are looking for ways to better serve this growing customer base and to attract them to bank with Wachovia."
Some of the key features on www.wachovia.com/español include: - Information about Wachovia accounts, including checking and savings/CD accounts
- Spanish-language forms to apply for checking and savings accounts
- Online form to request a call back from Wachovia in Spanish
- Search using Spanish keywords
- Branch and ATM locator
- Information about Wachovia Corporation, including educational information such as money-management tips
"This site, unlike those of many competitors, gives Spanish-speaking customers the ability to perform a variety of functions online and completely in-language, including applying for new accounts," said Lawrence Baxter, executive vice president and head of Wachovia's eCommerce group. "We wanted to ensure that our Hispanic customers could go beyond simply getting information on the site and actually conduct business transactions with Wachovia online in Spanish."
Wachovia serves its Spanish-language customers through a variety of channels, including a multilingual call center based in Miami to serve customers throughout the U.S. Wachovia also offers extra information, signs and personal assistance in Spanish at many of its 2,500 financial centers, and it accepts the Mexican Matricula Consular ID card as a valid form of identification for opening accounts.
About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation, with assets of $418.4 billion, market capitalization of $58.3 billion and stockholders' equity of $32.6 billion at June 30, 2004. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 12 million client relationships (including households and businesses), primarily in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients in 49 states. Global services are provided through 32 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.
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