WASHINGTON — Wells Fargo & Co. said Tuesday that it would eliminate all sales goals for credit cards, checking accounts and other retail banking products as the financial giant tries to mend its image following a $185 million settlement over aggressive sales tactics.

The announcement by Chief Executive John Stumpf came as the Senate Banking Committee said Monday night that it would hold a hearing next week on Wells Fargo’s sales practices, which pushed thousands of employees to open as many as 2 million fake accounts without customers’ authorization and charge unwarranted fees.

Stumpf, whose presence has been requested at the Sept. 20 hearing, said Tuesday that the company has “significantly strengthened our training programs, controls and oversight.”

“The elimination of product sales goals represents another step to reinforce our service culture, helps ensure that nothing gets in the way of our ability to achieve our mission and is consistent with our commitment to providing a great place to work,” he said.

The sales goals will be eliminated starting Jan. 1, Wells Fargo said.

The bank has fired about 5,300 people for improper sales practices since 2011, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Shrewsberry said the bank had invested $50 million to improve its monitoring of employees’ activities, including adding a “mystery shopper program” to identify improper sales tactics.

Also Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew called Wells Fargo’s sales practices “bad behavior” that showed the need for tough oversight of banks and other financial firms.

“This ought to be a moment when people stop and remember how dangerous the system is when you don’t have the proper protections in place,” Lew said at a New York City conference.

“This is a wake-up call. It should remind all of us and firms that culture and compensation make a difference,” he said. “How you reward people, how you motivate people and what values you hold people to matter.”


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