Wells Fargo Launches a Virtual Vault

With its 20-ton manganese door and armored nickel-steel walls, the vault in the basement of the Wells Fargo building in San Francisco's financial district was designed to withstand earthquakes and would-be thieves. But while it's probably still a good place to stash tangible valuables such as jewelry and cash, it's no longer the last word in security for documents: For those, Wells now offers a virtual vault service called vSafe.

Essentially an online storage site with beefed-up security, vSafe (which made its official debut today) costs $4.95 a month for up to 1GB worth of documents; $9.95 for up to 3GB, and $14.95 for up to 6GB. Wells officials say it's designed to store electronic copies or versions of important documents such as passports, wills, property deeds, birth and marriage certificates, stocks and bonds, photos, and the like.

While customers are responsible for creating (by scanning, for example) and uploading the electronic copies of most documents, Wells will, on request, automatically store the PDFs it creates of a customer's bank statements. Wells' literature notes that while electronic copies aren't legal replacements for the originals (especially for documents such as wills, deeds, trusts, stock certificates, passports, and powers of attorney), they can sometimes help if the originals are destroyed or lost.

The site isn't fancy, but it does provide some folders to help you organize your documents (and you can create your own folders if you wish). The services promises 256-bit encrypted storage and regular backups "with geographically diverse servers."

Authentication seems more robust than the usual userID-password login: To access your documents once you log in to your online account, you must request a code that is sent either by e-mail or as a text message (your choice). You must then enter that code on the site--and it's only good for the one visit, so you have to go through the same drill each time you access the site.

Secure online storage isn't new, of course; XDrive offers 5GB for free. But Wells believes its history of providing secure real-world storage and its user-friendly and secure technology will convince customers. What do you think? (A 30-day free trial is available.)

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