Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) match: 6% max
Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan · WFC · CIK 72971
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
6%
Wells Fargo & Company matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 17, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Wells Fargo puts in, and what the plan costs
What Wells Fargo put into the plan, per active participant
$6,154
Wells Fargo & Company put $6,154 into this plan for each of its 167,176 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
Wells Fargo put in more per active participant than 69% of plans with 5,000+ participants at holding companies. The middle plan in that group of 62 reported $4,209. Holding companies comes from business code 551111, which Wells Fargo entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Wells Fargo pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 410449260, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $6,154 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Wells Fargo & Company also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Wells Fargo puts in
$2,970
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Employer contributions consist of two components: matching contributions and base contributions. To be eligible to receive these contributions, a participant must be employed on December 15 of the plan year, with certain exceptions. Termination of employment on or after normal retirement age, disability, and death are the three exceptions to the December 15 employment rule to be eligible for employer match and base contributions. Matching contributions are equal to 100% of salary deferral contributions up to 6% of participant’s eligible certified compensation in the plan year and are paid at year-end.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
57.14 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 4% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 0%, 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are fully vested in their salary deferral contributions. Employer contributions consist of two components: matching contributions and base contributions. To be eligible to receive these contributions, a participant must be employed on December 15 of the plan year, with certain exceptions. Termination of employment on or after normal retirement age, disability, and death are the three exceptions to the December 15 employment rule to be eligible for employer match and base contributions. Matching contributions are equal to 100% of salary deferral contributions up to 6% of participant’s eligible certified compensation in the plan year and are paid at year-end. Matching contributions for eligible employees hired January 1, 2021 or after are subject to 3-year cliff vesting.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 1 year. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees eligible to participate in the Plan include regular and fixed term employees, flexible employees, and interns employed by a participating employer, who have completed one full calendar month of service and meet the minimum eligibility age of 18. Employees, who satisfy the Plan’s eligibility requirements, become eligible to make salary deferral contributions on the first day of the month following one calendar month of service. Employees may be eligible to receive employer matching contributions and base contributions, after completion of one year of vesting service and satisfaction of other eligibility requirements.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
27th percentile
$34.04 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 73% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Wells Fargo's 401(k) match formula?
Wells Fargo's 401(k) employer match tops out at 6% of pay. The match is deposited once a year. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 6% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 6% of compensation |
| Deposited | Once a year |
| Conditions | Salary deferrals are eligible to be matched only after one year of service; to receive matching and base contributions a participant must be employed on December 15 of the plan year (exceptions: termination on or after normal retirement age, disability, and death); catch-up contributions are generally not eligible for matching contributions |
| Other employer contribution | Base contribution equal to 1% of an eligible participant's certified compensation for the plan year; requires one year of service and combined certified compensation plus Deferred Compensation Plan deferrals under $75,000; subject to 3-year cliff vesting |
At a $90,000 salary, contributing 6% ($5,400) earns the full employer match of $5,400 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Employer contributions consist of two components: matching contributions and base contributions. To be eligible to receive these contributions, a participant must be employed on December 15 of the plan year, with certain exceptions. Termination of employment on or after normal retirement age, disability, and death are the three exceptions to the December 15 employment rule to be eligible for employer match and base contributions. Matching contributions are equal to 100% of salary deferral contributions up to 6% of participant’s eligible certified compensation in the plan year and are paid at year-end.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 17, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Wells Fargo's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Wells Fargo vests the employer match on a cliff schedule: nothing is yours until three years of service, then 100% at once. Leave a day early and the employer money goes back to the plan, the edge a three-year cliff creates.
| Employer match vesting | Cliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Accelerated vesting | Employees hired prior to January 1, 2021 are 100% vested in current and future matching contributions (3-year cliff applies to hires on or after January 1, 2021); in the event of Plan termination participants become 100% vested |
| Other employer contributions | Base contributions are subject to 3-year cliff vesting |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are fully vested in their salary deferral contributions. Employer contributions consist of two components: matching contributions and base contributions. To be eligible to receive these contributions, a participant must be employed on December 15 of the plan year, with certain exceptions. Termination of employment on or after normal retirement age, disability, and death are the three exceptions to the December 15 employment rule to be eligible for employer match and base contributions. Matching contributions are equal to 100% of salary deferral contributions up to 6% of participant’s eligible certified compensation in the plan year and are paid at year-end. Matching contributions for eligible employees hired January 1, 2021 or after are subject to 3-year cliff vesting.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 17, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Wells Fargo's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Wells Fargo's filing does not mention automatic enrollment, which is not the same as the plan having none.
| Plan entry | Salary deferral contributions on the first day of the month following one calendar month of service; minimum eligibility age of 18; includes regular and fixed term employees, flexible employees, and interns of a participating employer |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Employer matching and base contributions after completion of one year of vesting service and satisfaction of other eligibility requirements |
| Automatic enrollment | Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees eligible to participate in the Plan include regular and fixed term employees, flexible employees, and interns employed by a participating employer, who have completed one full calendar month of service and meet the minimum eligibility age of 18. Employees, who satisfy the Plan’s eligibility requirements, become eligible to make salary deferral contributions on the first day of the month following one calendar month of service. Employees may be eligible to receive employer matching contributions and base contributions, after completion of one year of vesting service and satisfaction of other eligibility requirements.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 17, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Wells Fargo plan report on Form 5500?
The Wells Fargo plan reported $57.9B in assets and 288,416 participants for plan year 2024.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
| Plan named in the DOL record | Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $57,886,997,456 |
| Participants | 288,416 |
| Recordkeeper | Empower |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $34.04 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $34.04 per participant. The median across plans at holding companies is $106.24, from the 612 of 643 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Empower as its recordkeeper, one of 7,876 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 7,814 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $165.69 per participant.
Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Wells Fargo's 401(k) match compare?
Wells Fargo & Company's maximum 401(k) match of 6% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at holding companies, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at holding companies.
Match vests in steps, 100% after 6 years. Also at holding companies.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at holding companies.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Empower.
Maximum match 9.3% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Empower.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Same 3-year cliff as Wells Fargo.
Compare Wells Fargo & Company with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Empower ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 17, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Wells Fargo & Company's 401(k) match?
Wells Fargo & Company matches 100% of employee contributions up to 6% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) match vest?
Cliff: 100% vested after 3 years of service.
Does Wells Fargo & Company's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000072971-26-000277, plan year ended 2025-12-31.