PHILADELPHIA, March 28, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Sovereign Bank and Cardtronics Inc. of Houston, Texas, have entered into an agreement that will enable Sovereign to brand nearly 900 cash dispensing Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in CVS/pharmacy locations across the northeastern United States including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, northern Connecticut, New Hampshire, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Installations will be completed over the next few months. Sovereign will also have the opportunity to brand ATMs at any new CVS/pharmacy locations within the same footprint. In addition, all Sovereign ATMs in CVS/pharmacy stores will be surcharge-free to Sovereign customers - just like Sovereign's on-premise ATMs.
"At Sovereign, our goal is to provide our customers with superb ease and convenience for completing their banking," said Laurie Cochran, Sovereign senior vice president of Retail Marketing. "By teaming with Cardtronics and CVS/pharmacy, we're significantly expanding our ATM network while creating greater convenience for our customers. This exemplifies Sovereign's vision of delivering outstanding service to our customers."
"Of the over 25,000 ATMs Cardtronics manages across the United States, more than 10,000 are positioned in national merchant locations like CVS/pharmacy," according to Keith Myers, executive vice president of financial services for Cardtronics. "Providing financial institutions the opportunity to brand these ATMs is an excellent means to increase their footprint and brand awareness - while improving both customer service and convenience. In turn, the merchant achieves increased foot traffic and enhanced customer loyalty," Myers said.
"For financial institutions, branding an ATM at a merchant location is similar to adding a mini-branch location - without the cost and risk associated with brick-and-mortar branches," Myers said. "For merchants like CVS/pharmacy, their customers receive secure, quick access to cash. This is definitely a win-win situation for all parties involved."
About Sovereign Bank
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. ("Sovereign") (NYSE:SOV), is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, a $64 billion financial institution with more than 650 community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs and approximately 10,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
About Cardtronics
Cardtronics, the world's largest owner/operator of ATMs, has a nationwide U.S. network of more than 26,000 locations operating in every major market and in all 50 states as well as 1,000 locations throughout the UK. Major merchant-clients include A&P(r), Albertson's(r), Amerada Hess(r), Barnes & Noble(r) College Bookstores, BP(r) Amoco, Chevron(r), Costco(r), CVS(r)/pharmacy, ExxonMobil(r), Duane Reade(r), Rite Aid(r), SSP/Circle K(r), Sunoco(r), Target(r) and Walgreens(r). Cardtronics also works closely with financial institutions across the U.S. to brand ATMs in these major merchants to provide convenient access for their customers and to preserve and expand their markets.
The Cardtronics logo is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=991