Report: JPMorgan Veteran Ed Olebe to Lead Wells Fargo’s Credit Card Business

Wells Fargo has reportedly hired the former head of JPMorgan Chase’s branded credit card business, Ed Olebe, to lead its own credit card business.

Olebe left JPMorgan Chase late last year, was succeeded in his position at that bank by Chris Reagan, and will take over for Ray Fischer at Wells Fargo upon Fischer’s retirement, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (Jan. 9).

Neither Wells Fargo nor JPMorgan Chase immediately replied to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

Growing the credit card business has been a focus for Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, according to the report.

After becoming CEO in 2019, Scharf tapped Fischer to revamp and expand Wells Fargo’s credit card business, saw the bank add more of its own credit cards, and said that the bank’s credit card business has been less affected than its other businesses by its efforts to improve its controls under orders by regulators, the report said.

Wells Fargo and rent-rewards card Bilt denied reports that their co-branded credit card relationship was in trouble. The bank and the FinTech startup partnered in 2022 on a card that lets users pay their rent while earning rewards points.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in June that Wells Fargo was losing as much as $10 million a month on the program after bank executives made projections on revenue sources that ended up being wrong. It also said Wells Fargo was negotiating its arrangement with Bilt and didn’t plan to renew its contract scheduled to end in 2029.

Representatives for both companies denied the relationship was in doubt when reached for comment by PYMNTS at the time of the WSJ report.

In May, Wells Fargo launched a business credit card designed to provide easy-to-understand cash rewards, saying the new Signify Business Cash Worldwide Elite Mastercard offers unlimited 2% cash rewards on business purchases, with no annual fee and no caps or categories to track.

“Business owners told us that cash rewards programs had become too complex and didn’t provide enough value for their businesses,” Jeff Hoffman, head of Small Business Card for Wells Fargo, said at the time in a press release.