Branch Banking and Trust Company history

After several years of investing in Wilson’s agricultural economy, the bank experienced moderate growth, and Hadley withdrew his partnership in 1887.

Alpheus Branch and several other prominent businessmen in the Wilson area procured a charter from the North Carolina General Assembly in 1889.

Another Richmond investment bank, the venerable Scott & Stringfellow (established 1893), was acquired later.

Southern National, the fifth largest bank in North Carolina before the merger (BB&T was number four), had been formed in 1897 in Lumberton.

Barnes, Hadley, J.F. Bruton, R.L. Thompson and Walter Brodie secured a charter from the North Carolina Legislature to operate the Wilson Banking and Trust Company (later amended to the State Bank of Wilson and later to The Branch Banking Company). However, the charter was not implemented until 1900.

20, 1902, the bank opened a savings department, paying four percent interest compounded quarterly.

The new century saw expanding opportunities for BB&T. In 1913, the charter was amended to change the name to Branch Banking and Trust Company.

The bank began offering insurance and mortgages in the early 1920s.

1921 BB&T begins opening branch offices.

With the stock market crash of 1929, banks that had invested heavily in stocks began to fail.

BB&T had an office in Raleigh by 1959.

1968 Southern National Corporation holding company is incorporated.

Allison had started working for the bank in 1971 while studying for an M.B.A. Forbes dubbed Allison the "Philosopher King" for his penchant for citing thinkers from the ancient Greeks to Ayn Rand.

1974 Holding company Branch Corporation is formed.

Slow Growth Until 1981

L. Vincent Lowe, Jr., became president and CEO in 1982 upon the death of Thorne Gregory.

BB&T entered South Carolina by merging with Greenville's Community Bancorporation Inc. in 1987, which was renamed BB&T of South Carolina.

1989 BB&T's assets are about $5 billion.

Assets reached $10.5 billion by 1994, with 263 offices in 138 cities in North and South Carolina.

In 1995, BB&T and Southern National Corporation, the fifth largest bank in the state, merged, and BB&T carried the name because of its wider recognition.

Washington, D.C.'s Franklin Bancorporation Inc. was added in December 1997.

BB&T set up its own venture capital firm in March 1998.

BB&T had a very busy year in 1999, as it expanded on all fronts.

In August 2000, BB&T formed a special two-person team to ensure the conversions went smoothly, reported American Banker.

In 2001, BB&T completed its acquisitions of FCNB Corp. of Frederick, MD, and FirstSpartan Financial Corp. of Spartanburg, SC (both were completed in March). The acquisitions of Century South Banks of Alpharetta, GA, and Virginia Capital Bancshares of Fredericksburg, VA, were completed in June.

Matching CRC with BB&T's existing retail agencies made sense for both parties, observed American Banker. It picked up Cooney Rikard & Curtin (later renamed CRC Insurance Services Inc.), a Birmingham, Alabama-based insurance wholesaler, in January 2002 for stock worth $86 million.

In July 2003, BB&T completed the acquisition of First Virginia Banks Inc. of Falls Church, Va.

BB&T completed the acquisition of Republic Bancshares Inc. of St Petersburg, Fla., in April 2004.

By the end of 2005, however, the company had already announced another purchase: Atlanta's Main Street Banks Inc., for stock worth about $600 million.

In 2006, BB&T completed the acquisitions of Main Street Banks Inc. of Atlanta, Ga., and First Citizens Bancorp of Cleveland, Tenn.

BB&T completed the acquisition of Coastal Financial Corporation of Myrtle Beach, S.C., in 2007.

BB&T announced it would purchase the personal and business deposits of Haven Trust Bank of Atlanta in an FDIC-assisted deal in December 2008.

“Our History.” BB&T Media Room – Company Information Webpage. http://bbt.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=18&cat=8, (accessed July 20, 2011).

On February 7, 2019, BB&T and SunTrust announced plans to combine in a merger of equals creating the sixth-largest United States bank holding company with 275 years of combined history and a culture serving clients and communities in high-growth markets.