Synovus is a financial services company with $29 billion in assets based in Columbus, Georgia. Synovus’ 30 locally-branded bank divisions provide commercial and retail banking, investment and mortgage services to customers in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee through 308 offices and 439 ATM's.

Company history

Synovus is rumored to have begun in 1888, when a mill worker at Eagle & Phenix Mills in Columbus, GA, accidentally got her dress tangled in a piece of machinery. Money she had sewn into the hem of her dress spilled across the floor. She explained that she believed this was the safest place to keep it. G. Gunby Jordan, the mill's secretary and treasurer, offered to keep the money in the mill safe and pay her monthly interest on the deposits while lending the money out to others. He soon offered the same service to all the mill workers. These first deposits inspired Jordan to establish an institution that became Columbus Bank & Trust (CB&T), which later formed Synovus Financial Corporation to act as a bank holding company.

Caught up in the financial crisis

In mid-August 2009 the bank was named as one of the biggest of more than 150 U.S. lenders which own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings. 5 percent is a threshold that former regulators have stated can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival.

As a result of their financial troubles, Synovus laid off 850 employees and closed multiple bank branches in early 2011.

Charter Consolidation

In early 2010, Synovus consolidated their thirty separate state charters into one Georgia state banking charter and is transitioning to operate as a more centralized single bank.

Synovus banks

Alabama

• Bank of Tuscaloosa (Tuscaloosa)
• CB&T of East Alabama (Phenix City)
• Community Bank & Trust of Southeast Alabama (Enterprise)
• First Commercial Bank (Birmingham)
• First Commercial Bank (Huntsville)
• First Bank of Jasper (Jasper)
• Sterling Bank (Montgomery)

Florida

• Coastal Bank and Trust of Florida (Pensacola)
• First Coast Community Bank (Fernandina Beach)
• Synovus Bank of Jacksonville (Jacksonville)
• Synovus Bank of Florida (St. Petersburg)
• The Tallahassee State Bank (Tallahassee)

Georgia

• AFB&T (Athens/Augusta)
  • Locally branded as Athens First Bank & Trust in Athens, GA, and Augusta First Bank & Trust in Augusta, GA.
• Bank of Coweta (Newnan)
• Bank of North Georgia (Alpharetta)
• CB&T Bank of Middle Georgia (Warner Robins)
• Citizens Bank & Trust of West Georgia (Carrollton)
• Citizens First Bank (Rome)
• The Coastal Bank of Georgia (Brunswick)
• Cohutta Banking Company (Chatsworth)
• Columbus Bank & Trust (Columbus)
• Commercial Bank (Thomasville)
• Commercial Bank & Trust Company (LaGrange)
• First Community Bank (Tifton)
• First State Bank & Trust Company (Valdosta)
• Georgia Bank & Trust (Calhoun)
• Sea Island Bank (Statesboro)
• SB&T Bank (Albany and Americus)

South Carolina

• NBSC
  • Locations in Anderson, Bishopville, Bluffton, Camden, Cayce, Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Goose Creek, Greenville, Greer, Hilton Head, Inman, Irmo, Lexington, Little River, Loris, Manning, Mt. Pleasant, Murrells Inlet, Myrtle Beach, North Charleston, North Myrtle Beach, Spartanburg, Summerville, and Sumter.

Tennessee

• The Bank of Nashville (Nashville)
• Cohutta Banking Company (Chattanooga)
• Trust One Bank (Memphis)

External links

• Synovus Financial Corporation
• New Georgia Encyclopedia Article on Synovus
• Bronze Statue Pays Tribute to Synovus' Legacy
• Synovus To Spin-off TSYS - Forbes
• Synovus Financial Completes Spin-off Of TSYS - RTT News