Community banking

Sovereign to Change Name to Santander Bank

By Andy Peters July 31, 2013, 12:36 p.m. EDT 1 Min Read

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Sovereign Bank will change its name to Santander Bank and spend $200 million to upgrade branches and roll out an advertising campaign.

The $80 billion-asset bank, a unit of Spain's Banco Santander (SAN), said its new name will take effect Oct. 17. The change will apply to all of the company's approximately 720 branches in nine states. Sovereign has its largest retail presence in Massachusetts, with 229 branches, followed by Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Santander will spend $200 million over three years to renovate retail offices, complete a renovation of its flagship office in Boston, add enhanced ATMs, redesign its website, introduce new products and services and unveil new advertisements.

Santander Bank acquired Sovereign Bank after bank investor Jay Sidhu built the company from a small thrift to a regional giant in the 1990s. More recently, Sidhu has been recruiting lenders from Sovereign to join his latest venture, Customers Bancorp (CUBI) in Wyomissing, Pa.

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