To participate in the mobile promotion consumers can download the LevelUp mobile application which is available for iPhone and Android devices. From there, users can link their Sovereign debit card and scan their unique LevelUp code at the point-of-sale.

“Sovereign is always looking for ways to provide further convenience and value to our customers,” said Eduardo Tobon, head of U.S. Cards division at Banco Santander.

Sovereign Bank has more than 700 branches, nearly 2,300 ATMs, and approximately 8,500 team members.

Santander Holdings USA Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., and parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A. and Santander Consumer USA.

LevelUp is the free mobile app that lets you pay with your phone to save time and money.

Mobile promotion
The Sovereign Bank mobile promotion will be aligned with The Boston Harbor Association’s Summer on the Waterfront campaign.

Advertisements will be featured throughout the city on the Red and Orange MBTA lines, several bus lines and in Boston Globe Magazine.

Additionally, the advertisements encourage the first 20,000 LevelUp users to link a Sovereign debit MasterCard to a LevelUp account and receive $10 to spend at any of the company’s businesses such as James Hook & Co, Boston Harbor Cruises and Ben & Jerry’s at the New England Aquarium.

“Proximity payments including mobile are very convenient for Sovereign-Santander customers,” Mr. Tobon said. “Being headquarted in Boston, we’ve followed LevelUp and its early success with both merchants and consumers.

“We found that Sovereign-Santander customers were already adopting LevelUp and demonstrating heavy repeat usage and overall transaction growth,” he said.

“It was easy to see how an exclusive partnership campaign could help both Sovereign-Santander and LevelUp grow.”

Taking strides
A mobile initiative such as this is a great way to engage consumers and reward them when they use their mobile device.

By partnering with LevelUp, Sovereign Bank is able to drive its mobile efforts one step further.

In addition, LevelUp recently announced that it has raised $12 million in financing to grow its mobile payment app.

“Our customers are at the center of everything we do and as proximity payments continue to evolve, we will look for ways in which our customers can quickly take advantage of their benefits and convenience,” Mr. Tobon said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York