Synovus to Provide Identity Theft Data to Federal Trade Commission; Information Sharing Will Help Law Enforcement Spot Large-Scale Identity Theft Schemes

Business Wire, August 2, 2005

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Synovus (NYSE: SNV), the Columbus, Georgia-based, diversified financial services company, is among a group of large financial services companies that has announced a partnership with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide law enforcement agencies with up-to-date information on identity theft cases.

The Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC), a not-for-profit consortium of financial services companies, will begin sharing information about identity theft cases with the Federal Trade Commission for use by law enforcement officials nationwide. Synovus has been a participating member of the ITAC since its inception in 2004.

Partnering with ITAC, Synovus and its 39 banks across the southeast work with identity theft victims to restore their financial identity. After resolving any issues at the bank level, Synovus banks refer customers to ITAC, where a representative walks the consumer through his or her credit report to find suspicious activity, notifies the affected creditors, and places fraud alerts with the credit bureaus.

ITAC will now be sharing details about its cases with the FTC, which also fields consumer complaints about identity theft. The FTC will place information collected from ITAC in its consumer database, which is accessible by more than 1,300 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Patti Jenkins, Vice President of Synovus Operations and Coordinator of Fraud Loss Management, said "For years, banks, credit card issuers and other financial services companies have shared information one-on-one with law enforcement. But this is the first time the financial services industry has pooled its data. We think it will be a big step in helping stop the serious crime of identity theft."

Anne Wallace, Executive Director of ITAC agreed. "We will now be able to get this information into the hands of law enforcement officials all over the country," said Wallace. "Law enforcement officials are often hampered by jurisdictional boundaries. With this information, they can find multiple victims and it will be so much easier to make a case," she added.

Synovus (NYSE: SNV) is a diversified financial services holding company with over $26 billion in assets based in Columbus, Georgia. Synovus provides integrated financial services including banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage and leasing services through 39 banks and other Synovus offices in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee; and electronic payment processing through an 81-percent stake in TSYS (NYSE: "TSS"), one of the world's largest companies for outsourced payment services. Synovus has been named one of "The 100 Best Companies to Work For" in America by FORTUNE magazine, and has been recognized in its Hall of Fame for consecutive appearances on the list since its inception in 1998. In 2005, Synovus was also named as one of "America's Most Admired Companies." See Synovus on the Web at www.synovus.com.