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If Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp. merge as announced this morning, the deal would nearly double the size of Wells' ATM network and would give the San Francisco-based bank a coast-to-coast presence in 39 states. The agreement also would marry two of the five largest debit card issuers, making Wells the nation's second-largest debit card issuer, according to PaymentsSource.com, a CardLine sister Web site. The deal, however, remains far from certain, according to analysts. Wells and Wachovia announced the merger just days after Citigroup Inc. went on record with its own agreement to buy Wachovia, which is based in Charlotte, N.C., in a government-orchestrated deal. This morning, New York-based Citi issued a news release saying it will fight any deal between Wells and Wachovia. Last Friday, Wells had agreed to buy Wachovia but backed out at the last minute, says Judson Murchie, an analyst with Boston-based based Aite Group. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. engineered a deal in which Citi would buy Wachovia's retail business with FDIC assistance. Wells and Wachovia may have a better understanding of the public's mood and the pressure on government regulators not to bail out large corporations, Murchie says. "The agreement between Wells and Wachovia is a much cleaner (deal) for the public and regulators because the government is not involved," he adds. "The public already is very upset with the $700 million bailout package that Congress has proposed to help Wall Street." A Wells spokesperson says the bank would not comment beyond what was written in this morning's news release about the merger.
