A strong heritage
Synovus Bank’s humble beginnings date back to a Columbus, Georgia, textile mill and a simple act of kindness. When a worker’s hard earned savings spilled from the hem of her dress, an executive offered to secure her money in the company vault and pay her interest. That service was extended to all workers at the mill. Their deposits marked the beginning of the company that became Synovus – the largest bank headquartered in Georgia.
“At Synovus we’re committed to our purpose – helping people reach their full potential. We do this through proactively delivering advice and solutions to clients, giving team members the freedom to ideate and innovate and supporting our communities in philanthropic and economic efforts that drive long-term sustainability and growth.” — Kevin Blair, Synovus chairman, CEO and president.
Today, Synovus has nearly 5,000 team members committed to its purpose: enabling people to reach their full potential. The bank’s team members nurture trusting relationships with clients across its five-state footprint (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee) to help them build the future of their dreams, offering specialized advice, services and products.
Synovus also believes the best way to ensure the long-term health of the bank is to safeguard the health of the communities it serves. The bank accomplishes this through community outreach and philanthropy to promote economic stability and prosperity, social and human advocacy, and environmental protection and improvement.
Power of innovation
Synovus was one of the first U.S. banks to build a credit card processing platform in the 1980s which became TSYS, one of the world’s largest payments processing companies. Synovus spun off TSYS in 2007, and in 2019, Global Payments and TSYS merged.
Maast, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Synovus, furthers the bank’s culture of innovation and financial technology while expanding the bank’s reach nationwide. An embedded finance provider, Maast helps software-as-a service, independent software vendors, enterprise resource providers and other B2B platforms create new revenue streams and enrich relationships with business owners by offering payment acceptance, banking services and more as features in their software, under their brand. Maast takes care of underwriting, compliance, security, support and adoption so platforms can get to market faster and offer their business owners a better experience. Maast calls it “money-as-a-service.”
To embed innovation and serve commercial banking clients better, Synovus implemented an Accelerate platform featuring robust foreign exchange trading and payment capabilities that offer convenient access and management through its Gateway commercial banking portal. Additional functionality includes a fully integrated receivables suite enabling organizations to access working capital and reduce exceptions with straight-through processing across all payment channels.
Through accelerators, tools and workshops, Synovus ensures team members contribute to the power of innovation. Whether focusing on the future of money or emerging technology applications like conversational AI, the bank continuously evaluates and tests to enhance the client and team member experience.
Synovus also invests in fintech venture capital partnerships to support entrepreneurship and power experiences and innovative solutions for team members and clients. As a founding Partnership for Inclusive Innovation member, the bank demonstrates its commitment to inclusive innovation for all Georgians, driving economic mobility through workforce development, student engagement and community research.
Synovus is active in incubators and universities by sponsoring fintech projects and providing students with real-world experiences that expand talent. Partnering with the Technology Association of Georgia and the Georgia Fintech Academy, Synovus gives back through mentorship.
The name reflects its uniqueness
Rooted in heritage and a deep belief in service, putting people first and innovation, Synovus delivers valuable expertise, creating a client- centric experience and long-term stakeholder benefit. Synergy + novus = Synovus. Synergy, meaning the interaction of separate components for a total effect greater than the sum of their parts and Novus (Latin for “new”), meaning superior quality and different from others in the same category.
