Sovereign Bank will rebrand itself Santander Bank on Oct. 17, incorporating the name of the Spanish banking group that bought it four years ago, it announced.
Along with the name change, which the bank has talked about for several years, Sovereign will said it will spend more than $200 million to refurbish its more than 700 branches, roll out enhanced ATMs and launch an advertising and marketing campaign about the changes.
The bank said 1.7 million customers will receive notification about the changes.
Sovereign is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, which acquired Sovereign in early 2009 for $2.51 per share.
Santander is a global financial company, with core markets in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Spain and Portugal.
While Santander has done business in the United States for more than 30 years, the Sovereign name change marks the first time it will operate as a federally chartered U.S. retail and commercial bank under the Santander brand.
