v3.26.1
Guarantees and Other Commitments
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Guarantees [Abstract]  
Guarantees and Other Commitments
Note 13:  Guarantees and Other Commitments
Guarantees are contracts that contingently require us to make payments to a guaranteed party based on an event or a change in an underlying asset, liability, rate or index. For additional
descriptions of our guarantees, see Note 16 (Guarantees and Other Commitments) in our 2025 Form 10-K. Table 13.1 shows carrying value and maximum exposure to loss on our guarantees.
Table 13.1: Guarantees – Carrying Value and Maximum Exposure to Loss
Maximum exposure to loss 
(in millions)Carrying value of obligationExpires in one year or lessExpires after one year through three yearsExpires after three years through five yearsExpires after five yearsTotal Non-investment grade
March 31, 2026
Standby letters of credit (1)
$102 15,414 5,306 1,727 13 22,460 7,365 
Direct pay letters of credit (1)4 552 1,953 633 87 3,225 567 
Loans and LHFS sold with recourse
90 1,461 3,392 3,609 6,094 14,556 11,123 
Exchange and clearing house guarantees (2)
— 125,830 — — — 125,830 — 
Other guarantees and indemnifications93 3,489 1,195 1,500 2,829 9,013 903 
Total guarantees$289 146,746 11,846 7,469 9,023 175,084 19,958 
December 31, 2025
Standby letters of credit (1)$98 13,967 6,550 1,814 15 22,346 7,315 
Direct pay letters of credit (1)5 588 1,836 353 88 2,865 488 
Loans and LHFS sold with recourse
91 1,362 3,214 3,385 6,378 14,339 10,910 
Exchange and clearing house guarantees (2)
— 98,106 — — — 98,106 — 
Other guarantees and indemnifications
69 4,418 1,521 370 1,663 7,972 979 
Total guarantees$263 118,441 13,121 5,922 8,144 145,628 19,692 
(1)Standby and direct pay letters of credit are reported net of syndications and participations.
(2)Substantially all relates to sponsored resale and repurchase activity.
Maximum exposure to loss represents the estimated loss that would be incurred under an assumed hypothetical circumstance, despite what we believe is a remote possibility, where the value of our interests and any associated collateral declines to zero. Maximum exposure to loss estimates in Table 13.1 do not reflect economic hedges or collateral we could use to offset or recover losses we may incur under our guarantee agreements. Accordingly, these amounts are not an indication of expected loss. We believe the carrying value is more representative of our current exposure to loss than maximum exposure to loss. The carrying value represents the fair value of the guarantee, if any, and also includes an ACL for guarantees, if applicable. In determining the ACL for guarantees, we consider the credit risk of the related contingent obligation.

For our guarantees in Table 13.1, non-investment grade represents those guarantees on which we have a higher risk of performance under the terms of the guarantee, which is determined based on an external rating or an internal credit grade that is below investment grade.

WRITTEN OPTIONS. We enter into written foreign currency options and over-the-counter written equity put options that are derivative contracts that have the characteristics of a guarantee. The fair value of written options represents our view of the probability that we will be required to perform under the contract. The fair value of these written options was a liability of $190 million and an asset of $101 million at March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, respectively. The fair value may be an asset as a result of deferred premiums on certain option trades. The maximum exposure to loss represents the notional value of these derivative contracts. At March 31, 2026, the maximum exposure to loss was $53.3 billion, with $50.3 billion expiring in three years or less compared with $45.4 billion and $42.0 billion,
respectively, at December 31, 2025. See Note 10 (Derivatives) for additional information regarding written derivative contracts.

GUARANTEES OF SUBSIDIARIES. The Parent fully and unconditionally guarantees the payment of principal, interest, and any other amounts that may be due on securities that its 100% owned finance subsidiary, Wells Fargo Finance LLC, may issue. These securities are not guaranteed by any other subsidiary of the Parent. The guaranteed liabilities were $2.1 billion and $1.7 billion at March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, respectively. These guarantees rank on parity with all of the Parent’s other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness.

MERCHANT SERVICES. We provide merchants with processing of debit and credit card transactions through payment networks and serve as a card network sponsor for a payment company. In our role as a merchant acquiring bank, we have a potential obligation in connection with disputes between the merchant and the cardholder that are resolved in favor of the cardholder, referred to as a charge-back transaction. We estimate our potential maximum exposure to be the total merchant transaction volume processed in the preceding four months, which is generally the lifecycle for a charge-back transaction. As of March 31, 2026, our potential maximum exposure was approximately $374.7 billion, and related losses were insignificant.


OTHER COMMITMENTS. As of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, we had commitments to purchase equity securities of $9.3 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively, which predominantly included Federal Reserve Bank stock and tax credit investments accounted for using the equity method.

We have commitments to enter into resale and securities borrowing agreements as well as repurchase and securities lending agreements with certain counterparties, including central clearing organizations. The amount of our unfunded contractual commitments for resale and securities borrowing agreements was $89.0 billion and $34.9 billion as of March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, respectively. The amount of our unfunded contractual commitments for repurchase and securities lending agreements was $14.7 billion and $6.8 billion as of March 31, 2026, and December 31, 2025, respectively.

Given the nature of these commitments, they are excluded from Table 3.4 (Unfunded Credit Commitments) in Note 3 (Loans and Related Allowance for Credit Losses).