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Wells Fargo Focused on the Philippines for Contact Center Outsourcing

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Wells Fargo (News - Alert) doesn’t let a little thing like federal legislation stop them from launching their contact center outsourcing strategy. This fourth-largest bank in America, according to assets, has started the process of transferring some of its business support activities to outsourcing providers in the Philippines.

According to this ABS (News - Alert)-CBN News report, non-core positions have been sacrificed to contact center outsourcing as a Philippines solution center has been established by Wells Fargo. Senator Ernesto Herrera, president of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, a labor group, suggests this move reinforces Manila’s reputation as the global hub for contact center outsourcing services.

Herrara shared with ABS-CBN, "We welcome Wells Fargo's launch of an in-house business support center in Manila, following the footsteps of JP Morgan (News - Alert) Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. We are counting on Wells Fargo's new center to help provide gainful employment to our college-educated, fluent English-speaking professionals, many of whom remain idle.”

The newly established contact center outsourcing service will provide assistance to Wells Fargo in such areas as back-office support and customer service.

This move does appear to be a push back to the proposed U.S. outsourcing bill. Introduced by New York Rep. Tim Bishop, the U.S. Call Center and Consumer Protection Act, if passed, will require the tracking of firms shifting contact center outsourcing jobs offshore. The U.S. Department of Labor will track this activity, while firms will be required to adhere to other stipulations.

Wells Fargo, and other companies leveraging offshore contact center outsourcing, will be required to disclose their location to U.S.-based consumers, who can then request their call be routed to a U.S.-based call center. Such firms will also be ineligible for direct or indirect U.S. loans and loan guarantees for five years.

A number of companies and industry experts do not expect the proposed bill to pass. A wide range of American companies benefit from contact center outsourcing offshore and it may or may not have the same stigma it once had in the local market.

The talk surrounding the legislation certainly hasn’t quieted activity in the Philippines. The business process outsourcing industry there expects an 18 percent jump to $13 billion this year. Industry revenues hit $11 billion in 2011.

The Philippines will also benefit from job creation. Herrera expects industry growth will generate roughly 126,000 new jobs in 2012.