Synovus thrives in traditional banking: commercial lending, serving small businesses, fostering vital personal relationships, giving the highest level of service. One of our greatest strengths is banking middle-market companies in the strongest region of the strongest economy in the world.

Our success in each of our markets is based on a decentralized management structure that carefully preserves the local identity of every hometown bank in our family. The local leaders who know how to serve their communities best are empowered to do so. These strengths have historically translated into much higher growth for Synovus compared to our peers in the region. In 1999, we reported the strongest loan growth in recent history, driven predominantly by those local Synovus lenders in thriving urban or metropolitan markets like north Atlanta, Columbus (Ga.), Athens (Ga.), Birmingham and Charleston (S.C.). Credit quality among Synovus banks is the best in our company's history.

Our growing sales culture will become a natural extension of our service culture, designed with an emphasis on relationships and connecting customers only with the financial products and services that are best suited to meet their needs. We want to coach Synovus team members to understand their customers' needs and how to meet them. This approach emphasizes the difference between profiting from a single sale and a lifetime relationship.

To facilitate our needs-based sales effort, we have installed a core management information system - TIPS, Technology Improving Personal Service - that instantly describes the scope of customers' banking relationships for the team members who serve them. TIPS is the vital link between customer and service. To assure that we continue to gain proficiency with the system from here, Synovus Technologies, Inc.,^SM is aiding each affiliate bank to systematically create detailed, customized plans for development.

As we continue to implement the sales culture, we will preserve local flexibility and autonomy in customer decisions. But over time, our sales culture will consistently integrate best practices in a branching model for all of our company's 242 branches in the Southeast, to assure a reliable and rewarding customer experience from office to office.

We have modified our strategy for acquiring new offices and new banking companies, turning our attention toward high-growth markets that offer a larger critical mass, but with a continued preference of growing cities in the Southeast. That shift has positioned us for more growth potential in our banks, and also has added more commercial lending expertise. Synovus leaders are evaluating opportunities to expand our geographic footprint beyond our current four-state area.

The Synovus correspondent banking business will continue to grow in all our markets with such services as investments, loan participations, mortgage, bankcard and equipment leasing.