By Imani Moise and Abhishek Manikandan
(Reuters) - Wells Fargo & Co (N:WFC) said on Thursday it plans to provide access to a suite of its credit products to recipients of the DACA program that protects from deportation some young immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
The move comes ahead of hearings next week that will see the bank's Chief Executive Officer Charles Scharf and its Chair Betsy Duke testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee for the first time.
The credit products will include education loans, personal lines and loans, and credit cards among others, the U.S. lender said in a statement.
The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which was introduced in 2012, has shielded from deportation a group of immigrants dubbed "Dreamers" and has given them work permits, though not a path to citizenship.
Wells Fargo also said it will make mortgage and home equity loans to eligible DACA customers, except where prohibited by specific investors.
The bank will roll out the new offerings in phases starting in the first half of 2020 through the first quarter of 2021, it said.
Earlier in the day, House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters said that she applauds the bank's recent actions like raising minimum wage and addressing consumer issues like excessive overdraft fees, but said the bank has more work to do.
"It goes a lot deeper than several actions that are taken prior to coming to the board to change our opinion," she told reporters.