Welcome to Truist
BB&T + SunTrust are now Truist
BB&T and SunTrust are now Truist
NARRATOR: This is the historic moment for two of America's most storied financial institutions. We share so many core values. But our stories are a little different. BB&T's story began in the aftermath of the Civil War. With much of the South in ruins, two men in Wilson, North Carolina decided the best way to rebuild was to create a bank people could believe in. In 1872, they opened their doors as Branch and Hadley to support the farming and small business community. And a long recovery began.
Meanwhile, in Atlanta, Georgia, an unlikely group of grocers, dry goods merchants, and a man who made suitcases, set up the Commercial Traveler's Savings Bank with $36,048.17. In 1891, the Trust Company of Georgia was officially established.
Now, these men weren't bankers. They were businessmen. So they knew a thing or two about what real people and real businesses needed. They helped many household names including Atlantic Ice and Coal, Georgia Power, and even a promising young beverage company called Coca-Cola, keeping their secret formula safe in the bank's vault for over 90 years.
Back up in North Carolina, the 20th century had started full of promise. The now renamed Branch Banking and Trust Company continued to grow, adding mortgage and insurance. Then the stock market crash of 1929 plunged the entire country into depression. Thousands of banks failed as people pulled out their deposits in panic.
But BB&T's quick-thinking branch manager opened up the vault to show clients their deposits were safe. While the big stack of money was actually a recent delivery of Postal Savings, it helped restore calm and BB&T's place as one of the few banks in North Carolina to make it through the Great Depression.
Down in Atlanta, the postwar period saw the Trust Company of Georgia also helping get the city back on its feet. They established a program to help veterans buy farming machinery and work the land they'd fought so hard to protect. And on October 11, 1949, the first Trust Company of Georgia branch was opened on West Peachtree and 3rd.
Fast forward to the 1980s, where a young group of leaders at BB&T emerged with a new vision far beyond an eastern North Carolina farm bank. This group, later known as the Fab Five, began to lead BB&T through a period of unprecedented growth. But they weren't the only ones prospering. In 1985, Trust Company of Georgia had merged with Sun Bank and SunTrust was born.
A busy period of acquisitions followed, opening up new branches and expanding to 1,650 branches across Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, and District of Columbia. Throughout the '90s and 2000s, there was just no stopping BB&T and SunTrust as they continued their rapid growth outside their territory.
Today, with 275 years of combined history serving clients and communities across the country, this is where our narratives meet, here, today. Two success stories lived in parallel, united by shared beliefs, coming together. The biggest banking deal in over a decade, creating the sixth largest bank in the US. This is living history in the making. And when we look back in 10, 50, 100 years' time, we'll know we witnessed the start of an incredible new chapter.
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About Truist
Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC) is a purpose-driven company dedicated to building a better future for its clients, teammates and communities. With 275 years of combined BB&T and SunTrust history, Truist is one of the nation’s largest financial services holding companies offering a wide range of services including retail, small business and commercial banking; asset management; capital markets; commercial real estate; corporate and institutional banking; insurance; mortgage; payments; specialized lending and wealth management. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Truist serves approximately 10 million households with leading market share in many high-growth markets in the country. Learn more at Truist.com.
