ST. PAUL Wells Fargo Insurance, the agency owned by Wells Fargo & Co., has announced an agreement with Minnesota Life Insurance Co. to provide Wells Fargo Home Mortgage customers with term life insurance products over the telephone.
Under the agreement, announced last week, Minnesota Life will make its CustomQuote term life insurance product available to Wells Fargo mortgage customers. The CustomQuote sales program uses new technology that allows approval of most applicants within a few minutes over the phone.
Wells Fargo Insurance is the first financial services company to use the program. Frank D. FitzPatrick, vice president of financial services for Wells Fargo Insurance, said it is looking for additional banks, mortgage companies, and credit unions to sell the product.
Wells Fargo Insurance will provide CustomQuote brochures and information, and will earn commissions when its customers choose to buy, Mr. FitzPatrick said. The two companies decided to focus on mortgage customers, he said, because Wells Fargo already sells other Minnesota Life products, such as mortgage life, homeowners, and accidental death insurance.
Mr. FitzPatrick said Minnesota Life is working on a Web version of the approval process so that partners such as Wells Fargo can link directly to a site where customers can buy life insurance.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified financial services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer finance, with $280 billion of assets.
Minnesota Life has more than $240 billion of life insurance in force and $20 billion of assets under management.
