Wachovia Rewards
As most readers of Wachovia Online Banking are aware, Wachovia was bought out by Wells Fargo and has been slowly being integrated into the new bank. Checking and savings accounts have now been moved to Wells Fargo, so those who had a Wachovia Rewards debit card should have received information on the Wells Fargo Rewards program, which is similar.
As with the rewards at Wachovia, the new Wells Fargo Rewards program offers points based on purchases with your debit card. These rewards can be redeemed for cash, gift certificates, travel, merchandise, and more. As an example of how this works, $600 a month in grocery purchases could mean 150 rewards points monthly or 1,800 points per year. $400 a month in gasoline is 1,200 points per year. A total of 525 points monthly is enough to get a $50 certificate at the end of the year.
The Wells Fargo Rewards program is not quite as good as the Wachovia Rewards it replaced, but many who had rewards at Wachovia are happy with the offer regardless. There was no reason for Wells Fargo to continue the program once they had integrated Wachovia.
Recently, there was a scandal as computer errors at Wells Fargo, during the changeover, caused thousands of emails indicating Wachovia Rewards points had been redeemed for merchandise and that back orders were underway. This caused many to believe that a scam was brewing involving rewards at Wachovia.
This was cleared up quickly, though rumors persist, as Wells Fargo let customers know that the glitch did not affect accounts, only the email system, and all Wachovia Rewards had been transferred to Wells Fargo Rewards without loss.