Type – Public (NYSE: SNV)
Founded – 1888
Headquarters – Columbus, Georgia
Key people – Richard E. Anthony, Chairman & CEO; Fred L. Green, III, President & COO; Elizabeth R. James, Vice Chairman & Chief People Officer
Industry – Banks
Products – Financial Services
Employees – 6,500 (2008)
Website – www.synovus.com

Company history

Synovus began in 1888, when a mill worker at Eagle & Phenix Mills in Columbus, GA, accidentally got her dress tangled in a piece of machinery. To the surprise of her coworkers, 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, happened by and offered to keep the money in the mill safe and pay her monthly interest on the deposits. 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 became Synovus Financial Corporation.

Synovus Decentralized philosophy

While other large banks in the country are merging and consolidating, Synovus has taken a different approach. Synovus has 30 community banks throughout their footprint in the southeast, and they all operate under separate charters, local CEO’s, and their own independent, local boards of directors. They believe this creates a responsiveness that is essential to their strategy of attracting and retaining customers.

A structure like this empowers community banks to make decisions on a local level, as close to the customers as possible. This decentralized structure, combined with also having the backing of a multi-billion dollar holding company and a broad array of high quality products that matches any large competitor, is what Synovus Financial Corporation believes to be a key differentiator in the marketplace.