Sovereign Bank

Dishonest Bank Practices Toward The Poor
- bernmcallister - Thursday, March 1, 2012 - 10:05 AM

I have been banking with Sovereign Bank on the East Coast, (NJ, PA) for a very long time, but since this bank added Santander Group I have noticed the rude customer service via their 1-800#.  This bank also has dishonest bank practices since the name change to Santander Group especially toward the poor.  I keep a running total of all my banking yet they continue to charge me $35.00 fees stating my account had insufficient funds.  The dispute is they say that all my checks came in the same day my direct deposit came in, but the twist here is that they always say the check came in last, how am to believe them when this happens continually.  There is a very tricky game they are playing with customers accounts especially when it relate to the very poor who live from paycheck to paycheck.  When you call the customer service representatives they don't even try to understand what is going on they just see what is before them on the computer.  Sovereign Bank seems desperate and they would rather steal from the poor and justify why they their not giving your money back.  My husband closed his account 1 year ago because of this, but I tried to stay with them because I felt I could be very careful watching my account, but I find that they have a secret way to bounce your account anyway.  I closed my account with them today and the woman at the bank fought with me toe and nail because I wanted to close it.  Tell me what is their problem?  If you have not had a problem with them yet, keep on banking it is in the making.  

IRA CDs Transfer Fee
- NYTealow - Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 2:32 PM

Read the fine print before you take out an IRA CD. They will charge your account $ 25.00 for a trustee to trustee transfer. I know of no other bank that charges for this service. Bank elsewhere!

SOVEREIGN BANK IS HORRIBLE!!
- rsspobox - Friday, February 3, 2012 - 1:29 AM

Sovereign Bank is the worst financial institution I have ever had the misfortune to do business with. Steer very clear.  I have 2 accounts.  A personal, and a Joint account. They have both of my debit cards setup to come from one account, and thus cause me to over draw. I have called to correct this many times, they claim its fixed but it never gets fixed. Even though they acknowledge their mistake they refuse to remove the insufficient fund fees. They are a disgrace to banking and as soon as I can pay off all of my over drafts I will close all accounts with them and switch to credit unions.  Nothing can be worse than this experience has been. Their customer service is non-existent.

Bank Elsewhere
- kdoward - Monday, May 9, 2011 - 8:06 PM

Unfortunetly 0 stars is not an option. I have had nothing but problems with them. They don't care about their customers once they have hustled you into opening with them in the first place. They are not helpful at all and have no problem saying the customer is wrong. They can not take credit if one of their employees makes a mistake. I am now in the process of switching banks and can not wait to actually like where I bank!

Convenient Locations
- user69 - Saturday, April 23, 2011 - 6:24 AM

I've been with this bank for the past seven (7) years, with a few different accounts. I have never run into any problems with them, even through the inevitable changes that all banks tend to make to their policies. If anything they were a little too proactive in letting its members know of changes that were occurring and explaining what to expect. Their customer service has always been friendly and helpful. I always enjoy my experience when I do have to venture inside of the actual bank. In my area there are a good amount of branch buildings as well as ATMs in every CVS, which is a plus if I need cash quick. I would definitely recommend this bank to anyone.

Always Friendly And Not So "By The Books" As Other Banks
- barty1013 - Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - 6:17 PM

I've always had a good experience with my Sovereign.  They've "stretched" the rules for me on more than one occasion when I've had overdrafts.  And they're always friendly, which is the main reason I don't go anywhere else.

Online Banking Is Unusable
- acctdir - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - 1:50 PM

SALES REP LIED. WEBSITE IS UNUSABLE[/H3] The bank's sales rep, Jessica Davis, said she knew us from our old bank, PNC. I told her that my biggest problem is that PNC charges $3 for each check viewed on the bank statement. She promised that Sovereign never charges for viewing checks. I just found out why! You are not able to view copies of any deposited checks whatsoever.

The website itself shows recent activity without balances. I need to go to 3 different websites, all with different logins, to deposit checks, look at my current accounts, or view my statements. It took 3 months to get my first bank statement. If you use the edit function to change a payment, it automatically creates a 2nd payment and the first payment never shows up in "HIstory" until after the payment is made.

I was told by Jessica that there was a $5,000 minimum balance to avoid fees. She said that if we used our debit card from one account that the fees would be waived. It turns out that there is a $10k minimum and you must use a debit card 3 times a month from every account you have...like payroll accounts. When I confronted Jessica, she said I should have read the paperwork she sent after we signed the accounts.

If you manage your accounts with online banking -- don't use Sovereign bank.

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