Sovereign | Santander Improves Clarity Of Fee Disclosures
"Simple Facts About Your Account" Exemplifies Industry Best Practices for Checking Account Fee Disclosures as Outlined by The Pew Charitable Trusts
BOSTON, Aug. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sovereign Bank, N.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA and one of the 25 largest retail banks in the United States, unveiled today its effort to make checking accounts easier to understand by offering simpler and more transparent fee disclosure information regarding all of its consumer checking accounts.
Sovereign's "Simple Facts About Your Account" is a useful online summary that helps consumers by providing a plain English description of checking account fees and services, by providing a clear overview of account costs, and by thoroughly explaining how account transactions are processed. This educational tool improves the ability of consumers to make an informed decision about the checking products most suitable for their financial needs.
"We're always looking for ways to improve the experience consumers have when banking with us," says Scott Young, director of service quality and customer experience at Sovereign Bank. "Our 'Simple Facts' guide provides a clear snapshot of information making checking account fees—and how to avoid them—totally transparent," Young says. "We're proud to be recognized by Pew for our efforts helping consumers make the best choices for their financial needs."
Sovereign Bank collaborated with The Pew Charitable Trusts' Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project, adopting its concise disclosure box format for communicating fees relating to checking accounts. "Too often, the terms, fees, and conditions of consumer checking accounts are hard to find, exposing customers to high, unexpected costs," said Susan Weinstock, director of Pew's safe checking research. "We applaud Sovereign Bank and Santander for providing their checking account holders with critical information in a clear format that will make important terms easier for current and future consumers to understand." The Pew Charitable Trusts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to applying a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy and to informing American consumers.
Customers can find out more about Sovereign Bank checking accounts at any of our branches, by calling our local phone centers at (877)768-2265 or by visiting www.sovereignbank.com.
About Sovereign Bank
Sovereign Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, Inc., is among the 25 largest retail banks in the United States based on deposits, with principal presence in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. Sovereign Bank is focused on serving the needs of its customers by providing high quality service and a range of comprehensive financial solutions through its more than 700 branches, over 2,000 ATMs and nearly 9,000 team members. For more information about Sovereign, visit www.sovereignbank.com or call 877-768-2265. Member FDIC.
About Santander
Santander Holdings USA, Inc. is a member of the Santander Group and the parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A. Santander Group is a network of diversified global retail and commercial banks offering a wide range of financial products. Founded in 1857, Santander Group has more than 102 million customers, approximately 14,600 branches – more than any other bank – and nearly 190,000 employees. Santander was recognized as 2012 Best Global Bank by Euromoney magazine, ranked second "Greenest Global Bank" in 2013 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek and was named 2013 "Sustainable Global Bank of the Year - Transactions" by the Financial Times. For more information about Santander, visit www.santander.com.
SOURCE Sovereign|Santander
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