Since the late 1970s, Synovus Financial Corporation, based in Columbus, Georgia, has made a habit of buying community banks and succeeding where others have failed (Synovus has successfully bought 39 banks all across the Southeast). The key to Synovus's success has been to keep the community banks purchased working like community banks and creating as little disruption for employees and customers as possible. "Their secret weapon is their decentralized structure," says Christopher Marinac, an analyst at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey. "Community banks know the local areas better and can be more nimble when compared to larger banks," he says. "That's how it wins business against big banks."

Currently, Synovus is applying its decentralized approach to a five-year, $10 million deal with Si Corps. Si Corps provides banking technology that Synovus believes will help each community bank reduce costs and better serve customers by matching them up with appropriate products and services. "It's a great move," says Kevin Reynolds, vice president of equity research at Morgan Keegan & Company. "It's another step toward giving affiliate banks more leeway when dealing with customers, further distinguishing them from the super-regional franchises that have bought and subsumed rival community banks." In January of 2005, Synovus announced a net income of $437 million for 2004. This marked the 22nd straight year Synovus's earnings had topped the previous year.

Sources: Michael Sisk, "Power to Its People," US Banker, September 2002, pp. 32–40; and Tony Adams. "Columbus, Georgia–Based Synovus Financial Posts Higher Earnings for 2004," Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, January 20, 2005, p. 1.