Wells Fargo seeks arbitration order in customer lawsuit

Wells Fargo & Co. wants a federal court judge in Utah to order that customers suing the banking giant over improper sales practices submit their claims to binding arbitration.

The San Francisco-based company's request applies to a class-action lawsuit filed initially by three Utah residents who at one time had accounts with the bank.

They sued Wells Fargo in September, one week after the bank made headlines for agreeing to pay $185 million to settle allegations that its workers opened millions of accounts without customers' permission to reach aggressive sales targets.

In a filing Wednesday to U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups, Wells Fargo asserted that the plaintiffs agreed to submit any disputes to arbitration when they signed up for Wells Fargo checking accounts, credit cards or other services.