Name change emphasizes Santander’s global reach

In Rhode Island’s competitive banking landscape, Sovereign Bank is preparing its new signage and assuring commercial and consumer customers of a seamless transition as well as enhanced local and global services when it, at last, becomes Santander Bank on Oct. 17.
Four years after Sovereign was acquired by the global banking giant Banco Santander SA, which is based in Spain, the long-promised name change was officially announced on July 24.
In the financial industry’s current environment of mergers, acquisitions and name changes that might cause some banking customers to get dizzy, Sovereign executives are repeating the promise that account numbers, PIN numbers and everything else will slip right over the Oct. 17 transition to Santander without a hiccup.
“With this name change, the great thing is the customers don’t have to do anything. There aren’t going to be systems changes,” said Sovereign Market Manager for Commercial Banking in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts John Silva, who is based in Providence.
Twenty-three years in banking – with 22 of those years in Rhode Island – have given Silva a been-there-done-that-survived-that outlook on the impact of the Sovereign-to-Santander name change.
“I have been here a long time, and most of that time has been in the commercial banking arena. And there has been change throughout that time,” said Silva. “I worked for the predecessor banks. The bank names have changed three times while I’m sitting at the same desk.
“We went from Hospital Trust to BankBoston to Sovereign Bank. Change is a part of what’s going on in banking.” said Silva.
The name change of Boston-based Sovereign to Santander is basically a rebranding, since Santander has been a presence in the region since it acquired Sovereign in 2009, said Christine Pratt, senior financial analyst for the Boston-based Aite Group, an independent research and advisory firm that focuses on business, technology and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry.
“I don’t think the name change is going to have much impact,” said Pratt. “People don’t usually leave their bank because the name changed.
“Sovereign Bank was never really a huge household name around here the way Bay Bank, BankBoston or Citizens [Bank] was,” Pratt said. Sovereign is also spotlighting its change in status in January 2012 from a thrift to a national bank, which enables it to do more commercial lending.
That change in status and the global resources of Santander will make it a strong competitor in commercial banking, said Silva.
“Rhode Island is a small state, so a lot of companies export,” said Silva. “As a result of this rebranding, the companies that are growing through foreign trade, or want to grow through foreign trade and expand overseas, will have access to our network around the world and our expertise in international finance.”
Overall, it’s a difficult environment for business, and that’s hitting even harder in Rhode Island, said Pratt.
“The small business lending environment is not even stable, it’s still continuing to decline,” said Pratt. “Small businesses are still not borrowing from banks with great regularity.”
As it approaches its name change, Sovereign Bancorp’s revenue and profit both fell in the first half of 2013, as reported in Banco Santander’s second-quarter earnings statement issued July 30, according to an article in the Boston Business Journal.
Compared with the first half of 2012, profit fell 14.5 percent to $306 million, according to the article.
The bank attributed the lower profit to “the cut in interest rates, the reduction in noncore portfolios and higher costs from the development of new businesses” in its earnings report.
Still, Sovereign’s regional executives in New England are optimistic about their formal identity as Santander helping the bank continue to be a strong player in the regional, national and international banking landscape.
Sovereign Bank Region President for Southern New England, Brian Azar, who is based in Providence, said the name change to Santander may have seemed like a long time coming, but now the timing is right.
“We just rolled out our mobile app. We’re upgrading infrastructure, and positive investments are being made,” said Azar. “I think this places us in a good position to meet more of our customers’ needs.” •

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