Synovus Financial Corp
Synovus is a financial services company which is a registered bank holding company.
Synovus provides integrated financial services including banking, financial management,
insurance, mortgage and leasing services through affiliate banks and other Synovus
offices in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee and electronic
payment processing services through its 81% owned subsidiary, TSYS. Synovus is
based in Columbus, Georgia and its stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol "SNV."
Synovus is engaged in two reportable business segments: Financial Services (which
is primarily involved in commercial banking activities and also provides retail
banking, financial management, mortgage banking, leasing and insurance services),
and Transaction Processing Services (which primarily provides electronic payment
processing services including consumer, debit, commercial, retail and stored
value card processing and related services, as well as student loan processing)
Major Customers. A significant amount of TSYS' revenues are derived from long-term
contracts with significant customers, including certain major customers. Bank
of America Corporation and Providian Financial Corporation accounted for approximately
18% and 10%, respectively, of TSYS' total revenues.
Competition
Financial Services. The commercial banking business is highly competitive and
the Banks compete actively with national and state banks for deposits, loans
and trust accounts, and with savings and loan associations and credit unions
for deposits and loans. In addition, Synovus and its banks and bank related
subsidiaries compete with other financial institutions, including securities
brokers and dealers, personal loan companies, insurance companies, finance companies,
leasing companies, mortgage companies and certain governmental agencies, all
of which actively engage in marketing various types of loans, deposit accounts
and other services. These competitors have been successful in developing products
that are in direct competition with or are alternatives to the banking services
offered by traditional banking institutions. Synovus' ability to maintain its
history of strong financial performance will depend in part on its ability to
expand the scope of and effectively deliver products and services, allowing
it to meet the changing needs of its customers.
TSYS' major competitor in the card processing industry is First Data Resources,
Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of First Data Corporation, which is headquartered
in Omaha, Nebraska, and provides card processing services, including authorization
and data entry services. The principal methods of competition between TSYS and
First Data Resources are price, system performance and availability, breadth
of features and functionality, disaster recovery capabilities, data security,
scalability and flexibility of infrastructure and customer service. Certain
other subsidiaries of First Data Corporation also compete with TSYS. In addition,
there are a number of other companies which have the necessary financial resources
and the technological ability to develop or acquire products and, in the future,
to provide services similar to those being
offered by TSYS.
2.76% 
