BB&T, Frost Bank and Synovus Financial Each Win 13 Awards

While slack demand for credit among U.S. companies is pushing some of the nation’s biggest banks to extend their reach beyond middle market clients and into the small business segment, small businesses continue to single out community banks and smaller regional players for excellence in corporate banking.

These smaller players dominate the list of 2012 Greenwich Excellence Award Winners in Small Business Banking. BB&T, Frost Bank and Synovus Financial each claimed a combined 13 national and regional Excellence Awards in the Small Business segment for 2012, followed by Regions Bank and First Tennessee, each with 10, and SunTrust, Zions Bank and PNC, each with nine.

Aggressive Terms, Impressive Quality
Many of these banks have won market share in their local regions by stepping up to aggressively compete for small business clients at a time when larger banks remained more conservative. As evidenced by the results of this year’s Greenwich Excellence Awards, small businesses have been impressed by the quality of products and services delivered by these smaller banks.

However, it remains an open question as to how long smaller regional banks and community banks can maintain their expanded market share. Over the past year, fierce fighting for loan business in the middle market segment has prompted many larger U.S. banks to set their sights on small businesses. The result has been intense competition for the credit and other banking business of the relatively small number of small businesses with strong credit ratings.

Even as they work to maintain their market share in this increasingly crowded space, smaller regional banks and community banks face the prospects of stricter capital requirements. “Since larger banks can more easily absorb the new costs, the incoming capital rules could leave smaller competitors at a real disadvantage in this and other businesses,” says Greenwich Associates consultant David Heiner. “This imbalance could prove significant enough to trigger industry consolidation in 2013 and beyond.”

Greenwich Excellence Awards for Small Business Banking
Greenwich Excellence Awards are determined by banks’ performance in Greenwich Associates  annual U.S. Small Business Banking Research Study, in which decision makers from nearly  17,500 businesses with $1-10 million in annual sales name the banks they use and rate them in 14 banking and treasury management categories. Recognition is based on statistical differentiation at a 95% confidence level.

At the National level, Greenwich Excellence Awards are given out in a broad range of Banking categories including Overall Satisfaction, Likelihood to Recommend, Personal Banking (Overall Satisfaction), Relationship Manager Performance, Credit Policy, Financial Stability, International Service, Branch Performance, and Online Services. Greenwich Associates also names Greenwich xcellence Award winners in the following Treasury Management categories: Overall Satisfaction, Accuracy of Operations, Customer Service, Product Capabilities, and Sales Specialist Performance. Greenwich Excellence Awards for Overall Satisfaction are also presented in both Banking and Treasury Management in the Northeast, South, Midwest and West regions.