“We continue to reduce head count in home lending in the third quarter, down 37% from a year ago, and we expect staffing levels will continue to decline.”

In context

“year ago as higher net interest income driven by the impact of higher interest rates was partially offset by lower deposit-related fees driven by the overdraft policy changes we rolled out last year. Charlie highlighted the investments we were making in our Chicago branch network, and we're also making investments in refurbishing branches across our existing network. Additionally, we are bringing our digital onboarding experience to our branches, creating a fast and easy experience for our customers. At the same time, we've reduced our total number of branches by 6% from a year ago. Home lending revenue declined 14% from a year ago due to a decline in mortgage banking income driven by lower originations in servicing income, which included the impact of sales of mortgage servicing rights. We continue to reduce head count in home lending in the third quarter, down 37% from a year ago, and we expect staffing levels will continue to decline. Credit card revenue increased 2% from a year ago due to higher loan balances, partially offset by introductory promotional rates and higher credit card rewards expense. Payment rates have been relatively stable over the past year and remained above prepandemic levels. New account growth continued to be strong, up 22% from a year ago, reflecting the continued success of our new products and increased marketing. Importantly, the quality of the new accounts continue to be better than what we were booking historically. While the majority of new cards were to existing Wells Fargo customers, we're increasingly attracting more customers that are new to Wells Fargo. Auto revenue declined 15% from a year ago driven by continued loan spread compression and lower loan balances. Personal lending rev”