Synovus history

The first turning point in the bank's history came in 1958 when James W. Blanchard began an 11-year stint at the helm.

In 1974, therefore, CB&T began offering bankcard processing services to banks in Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Washington.

CB&T became the first bank to act on this law when it acquired Commercial Bank (of Thomasville, Georgia) at the beginning of 1977.

By 1990, TSYS was processing 16 million accounts, generating fees of about $84 million annually, and capturing annual profits of nearly $12 million.

By 1992, Synovus's asset base had risen to $5.2 billion as its net income had increased to $61 million.

Synovus's 1993 gains, however, were largely attributable to Synovus's fast-growing TSYS subsidiary.

During 1994 Synovus acquired two more banks, including Peachtree National Bank of Peachtree City, Georgia, which had $78 million in assets.

1995: Synovus acquires its first South Carolina bank, National Bank of South Carolina.

For the next two years, Synovus acquired no banks, adding only two NationsBank Corporation branches in Rome, Georgia, in late 1996.

Synovus Financial Corp. is a major bank holding company with banking operations in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. Its assets were more than doubled again by the early 21st century thanks to a new wave of buyouts that began in 1998.

Synovus also acquired Wallace & de Mayo in 1999.

In August 2002 Synovus expanded its community banking operations into a fifth state through the purchase of $490 million-asset Community Financial Group, Inc., parent of the five-branch Bank of Nashville.

On October 25, 2007, TSYS and Synovus (holding 81% of shares at the time) announced a spin-off that was completed as of the end of 2007.

In early 2010, Synovus consolidated thirty separate state bank charters into one Georgia charter and began the transition toward operating as a more centralized bank.