Sovereign Bank reigns in the Northeast, where it has about 750 branches in eight states. The bank caters to individuals and small to midsized businesses, offering deposit products, credit cards, insurance, and investments, as well as commercial loans and mortgages (which together account for more than half of its total portfolio) and residential mortgages and equity loans (around a third). Sovereign Bank, which has grown by making some 30 acquisitions since 1990, also originates auto loans in the Southeast and Southwest. Spain-based Banco Santander Central Hispano owns the company.