Sovereign Bank Team Members Volunteer With Red Cross to Help Disaster Victims

Sovereign Bank today announced that 10 team members will join the ranks of the American Red Cross as they

work to bring relief to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and other recent

natural disasters. The Red Cross will train the volunteers and place them in

various locations according to need. Sovereign will support the volunteers by

continuing to provide their base pay for up to three weeks of service.

"Sovereign wanted to do more than just give money," said Cheryl Patnick,

director of Sovereign Bank's Team Member Services. "We are amazed at the

number of people who stepped forward to volunteer in just a short amount of

time."

Eighty team members from locations throughout the company applied for the

opportunity. The following were chosen randomly and will leave for training

shortly:

Keri Bell, Sovereign Direct representative, East Providence, R.I.

Deborah Blondin, relationship manager, Manchester, N.H.

Pier-Luca Bruno - financial analyst, Boston, Mass.

Kelly Copeland, Capital Markets sales officer, Philadelphia, Pa.

Raven Klein - Consumer Lending loan servicing specialist, Reading, Pa.

Bob McDonald, commercial loan portfolio manager, Manchester, N.H.

Lisa Radosta, commercial operations team manager, Dorchester, Mass.

Anthony Silvestri, consumer credit analyst, East Providence, R.I.

Holly Veum, community banking sales assistant, Needham, Mass.

Raun Wilson, personal banking representative, Harrisburg, Pa.

In addition to sending volunteers, Sovereign Bank is accepting monetary

donations for the Red Cross to aid hurricane victims. Cash and check

donations are being accepted at all Sovereign Community Banking Offices

through Sept. 30. To date, Sovereign team members and customers have

contributed more than $1.3 million. Information on how to pledge can also be

found at Sovereign Bank's Web site at http://www.sovereignbank.com.

As part of the relief fund effort, Sovereign donated $50,000 in matching

funds and made a corporate gift of $50,000 in recognition of the generosity of

Sovereign team members who donated to the fund. Sovereign previously

announced it is offering a checking account for evacuees of Hurricane Katrina

who have relocated to the Northeastern states. The new account is a non-

interest bearing checking account that includes fee waivers and free checks.

About Sovereign

Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), is the parent company

of Sovereign Bank, a $60 billion financial institution headquartered in

Wyomissing, Pa., 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, trust and wealth management and insurance.

Sovereign is the 19th largest banking institution in the United States.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.