Wells Fargo anticipates an uptick in lending activity in 2026, with management identifying credit cards and auto loans as the primary engines of growth, Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the UBS Financial Services Conference, Santomassimo pointed to the bank's credit card franchise as a bright spot, noting that new products introduced over the past three to four years have supported steady expansion. "On the card side, were seeing good growth there. Its been pretty consistent now for a while," he said.
The bank intends to broaden its card offering further, designing additional products aimed at wealth-management clients and other customer segments as it looks to capture a larger share of consumer spending.
Wells Fargo is pursuing growth through internal initiatives after the U.S. Federal Reserve lifted a $1.95 trillion asset cap in June. The removal of that restriction - which was imposed in the aftermath of the fake accounts scandal - enables the bank to expand its balance sheet and resume previously shelved growth plans.
Santomassimo said management plans to scale up investments across cards, auto lending, and investment banking while preserving credit quality. On auto finance, he highlighted recent momentum tied to preferred lending partnerships with Volkswagen and Audi in the United States. "Were really liking the momentum that we have there. So we should expect to see some growth continue overall," he added.
According to Santomassimo, the auto lending business returned to growth in 2025, underpinned by higher origination volumes and rising loan balances. Those trends, he suggested, set a foundation for further expansion heading into 2026.
In contrast, the banks mortgage operations have been contracting but are expected to moderate, with the business forecast to remain relatively flat through 2026. Management framed this as a stabilization rather than a return to prior volume levels.
Consumer spending data have been encouraging at the start of the year, Santomassimo said, with both debit and credit spending holding at healthy levels. He also reiterated that credit quality remains strong across the bank's portfolios. "Credit performance is still very good. Were not seeing signs of any systemic deterioration at all across the consumer or the commercial portfolios," he said.
Wells Fargos strategy going forward centers on organic growth, guided by newly available balance-sheet capacity and selective investments in products and partnerships. The bank expects credit-card and auto-lending initiatives to be primary contributors to loan growth in 2026, while the mortgage business is likely to hold near current levels.