Consideration and Approval of Contract: Banking and Depository Services with Wells Fargo Bank
 

1. Approve the contract with Wells Fargo Bank
2. Authorize the Management Services Director to execute all necessary documents

The Management Services Division requires banking and depository services for financial management.  The successful respondent is required to meet several minimum qualifications as well as required to process the majority of the deposit and disbursement activities for all operations of the City government. These activities include, but are not limited to, accepting deposits, paying checks, issuing and receiving wire transfers, acceptance and disbursement of Automatic Clearing House transactions, on-line banking services, e-box processing of payment receipts, and short-term investments.  These services cover the general banking services for the City and the Flagstaff Housing Authority. 

On August 20, 2025, the City issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) #2026-54 for Banking and Depository Services.  The RFP closed on October 10, 2025 and four financial institutions submitted a proposal.  A five-member Solicitation Evaluation Committee reviewed all proposals and conducted interviews of the top two scoring financial institutions.  Wells Fargo Bank was determined to be the highest qualified financial institution to deliver banking and depository services for the City of Flagstaff. 

The initial two years of the Banking and Depository Services contract are at no cost.  In addition, the City is offered a $20,000 credit for implementation of any new services during the first two years.  Wells Fargo offers an Earnings Credit Rate (ECR) that allows the City to offset monthly costs of service after the first two years.  With the ECR, the City has paid an average of $3,600 annually for all of our services over the last five years for our main banking accounts. 

• At the May 17, 2022 Council Meeting, Council considered a Citizen's petition to the Flagstaff City Council: "Climate Emergency: Stop the Money Pipeline" and agreed to have further discussions on the topic.
• At the March 14, 2023 Council Work Session, Council discussed a Citizen's petition to the Flagstaff City Council: "Climate Emergency: Stop the Money Pipeline" and staff provided a presentation on current banking services needs for the City. 
• At the May 28, 2024 Council Work Session, Council discussed changes to the Procurement Code Manual to add a section related to Sustainable Procurement and a subsection related to Financial Services.
• At the June 21, 2024 Council Meeting, Council adopted changes to the Procurement Code Manual to add a section related to Sustainable Procurement and a subsection related to Financial Services.
• At the December 10, 2024 Council Meeting, staff presented an update on the procurement process for banking services.

• Approve the contract with Wells Fargo Bank for banking and depository services
• Do not approve the contract with Wells Fargo Bank for banking and depository services and provide direction to staff.  

The City issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for banking and depository services on August 20, 2025.  The Scope of Work for the RFP included the following sections.

Banking and Depository Requirements - This section included minimum qualifications and requirements for all services including being insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), collateralization of City deposits in accordance with State Statutes, and following federal and state rules and regulations related to municipal and Housing Authority requirement.  Key personnel and experience, transition plan, and incident response was also included in this section.

Banking and Depository Deliverables - This section included all the essential services that the City requires from a financial institution.  The services included Bank Accounts, Deposits, Monthly Statements/Account Analysis/Reports, Online Banking Services, Investment of Bank Account Balances, Standard Disbursement Services, ACH Services, Electronic Wage Payments, Wire Transactions, AI Technology, and Cyber Security/Fraud Protections, 

Pricing - Responses submitted their pricing schedule which was based on the City's 2024 average monthly activity as well as pricing for any services not listed on the schedule.  

Sustainable Business Practices - This section requested information from the financial institutions as part of Procurement Code Manual, Article 32: Sustainable Procurement.  Respondents were asked explain their relationship with Businesses in the Fossil Fuel Industry and Commitment to Climate Action as part of their proposal. 

The scoring matrix included the following: 

• Banking and Depository Requirements - 20 points
• Baking and Depository Deliverables - 40 points
• Pricing - 30 points
• Business with the Fossil Fuel Industry - 10 points

The Solicitation Evaluation Committee reviewed all four proposals and scored Wells Fargo the highest with 429 points and U.S. Bank as the second highest with 413 points.  The Solicitation Evaluation Committee interviewed the top two respondents the week of March 30, 2026.  Upon completion of the interviews the Solicitation Evaluation Committee unanimously recommended to award the banking and depository services contract to Wells Fargo.  Wells Fargo was asked to provide their best and final offer and they responded with improved technology credit for implementing new services, improved interest rates, and a higher earnings credit rate.  
 

High Performing Governance: Maintain the organization’s fiscal stability through strong financial policies and best practices

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