Hello Ratan,
I just saw your posting doing a search for "sovereign' after the ***GREAT*** news that Sovereign is buying up 276 Fleet and Bank of Boston branches [what my father heard on the local radio in the heart of Sovereign's territory]. I was hoping someone would have a pointer to the list of branches: I ***HATE*** Fleet, my current bank in New England, thanks to the Bank of New England going belly-up a while back.
I speak from experience as a customer of Sovereign and relative (or friend) of a number of people who hold shares of Sovereign: this is one class banking concern.
Sovereign really expanded its branches and geographical range a couple of years ago when Corestates (CFL) got eaten by First Union (FTU). FTU did not ultimately swallow all the CFL branches but sold a number, as in large number, of branches to open handed Sovereign.
Speaking from ex-CFL territory, Sovereign made one smart move expanding via getting ex-CFL branches. A number, as in a lot, of people were not pleased to have to bank with a 'foreign' (non-PA) bank. In places where both FTU and Sovereign branches coexist, Sovereign has sucked up a lot of business FTU expected to keep. In New England, there are a number of people like me who absolutely detest Fleet, groaned when Fleet took over the banks were wanted to bank with (i.e. Bank of New England, CBT).
So... now to find out if my Fleet branch is one of those targeted by Sovereign. If so, I can close one of my accounts--no reason to have identical accounts in two branches of the same bank!
Kicking myself for buying that woofer NAVR instead of SVRN...
Lynn |
