For a while, I’ve been looking for a way to securely store documents like wills, birth certificates, photos, passports and other sensitive information online. There are a lot of companies who provide online storage services, but I was never comfortable enough to give it a try. That is until now.

Wells Fargo Bank has just released a new service called vSafe that offers secure 256-bit encrypted online storage for you to safeguard, organize, and access electronic copies of important documents from any place you have an Internet connection. I’ve been using it for almost a month and I’m impressed. It was easy to get set up and I was able to login in immediately to start uploading files.

Wells Fargo has a strong commitment to security (https://www.wellsfargo.com/wfonline/wellsfargovsafe/security), so I feel comfortable uploading sensitive information on their server. I was also impressed with the number of ways you could access your account. After logging into your bank account area, you have to have advanced access (https://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy_security/online/advancedaccess) to get to your files stored on vSafe. You can have the security code (only good for five minutes) sent via text message to your cell phone or you can purchase a RSA SecurID Device which resets your security code every couple of minutes. Both work great and you better believe I tested whether an old code would let me in.

Organizing my files was very easy. It was very similar using Windows Explorer and you could add notes to the folders explaining the contents. Some of the site’s functionality didn’t work as well as I’d liked with FireFox, but Internet Explorer worked fine. I scanned and uploaded anything I thought was important and would hate to lose in a disaster. I feel comfortable knowing my documents are safe and accessible in times of need. Just recently, they’ve added a feature that allows you to upload multiple files. I was shocked to see it wasn’t there from the beginning, but it’s a welcome addition to a developing product.

They have three price tiers:
* Base Plan: 1 GB – $4.95/ month
* Upgrade Plan: 3 GB – $9.95/ month
* Premium Plan: 6 GB – $14.95/ month

This is definitely a good service at an affordable price, but there are a couple of disadvantages. If you don’t bank at a Wells Fargo, the service isn’t available to you. I’d be interested to see if they would open it up to everyone as an additional revenue stream. Another is you have to have access to a scanner if you don’t have electronic copies of the files you want to store. This can be a tedious process, but well worth it if you have some time.

That’s my personal experience with Wells Fargo vSafe. If you are not a Wells Fargo customer, there are other places to store your files online. But I’m going to leave that to another post

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P.S. This isn’t a paid post.