Wells Fargo reports decrease in retail banking activity for February

Wells Fargo (WFC) said there were 55 percent fewer consumer credit card applications and 43 percent fewer checking accounts opened in February compared to a year earlier, according to a retail banking activity report released on Monday.

The February numbers show a continued dip in retail activity for the San Francisco–based bank following its fake account scandal in September.

The report also showed branch interactions from customers were down 11 percent from a year earlier.

"Today's update on retail banking trends is part of our ongoing commitment to transparency," said Wells Fargo President and CEO Tim Sloan in the report.

Wells Fargo began the monthly report following the scandal and said the next installment should be expected in April.

The report did show a 6 percent year-over-year increase in average consumer and small business balance deposits at $761.4 million.

Other high notes in the report include a rise in customer loyalty scores for the fourth consecutive month at 57.6 percent. This is still down from 62.1 percent a year earlier. Wells Fargo also noted that its customer-initiated consumer checking account closures were down 11 percent year over year.

"After factoring in day count differences," Mary Mack, head of Community Banking at Wells Fargo, said, "February trends were generally similar to January's and were within our expectations."