Summary
- Two banks, BB&T and SunTrust are getting together to form the sixth largest commercial bank in the United States, but, their leaders state, "It's all about technology!"
- Has the revolution in information technology really reached its "tipping point" in the commercial banking industry, a sector that has been noted for its lagging use of this resource?
- Regulatory pressures over the past ten years have prevented mergers among the larger commercial banks, although over the past ten 18 years, we have lost 234 institutions per year.
- Analysts are wondering whether or not a successful completion of this merger might set off a "wave" of larger mergers to grab onto the advance of the technology.
“Technology was the main impetus for the deal, executives for BB&T and SunTrust said Thursday.” This quote is from the Wall Street Journal.
In the New York Times we read that while BB&T and SunTrust executives “plan to eliminate lots of jobs” in combining the two organizations, “they would plow the savings into technological innovations that fostered greater competition with the nation’s largest banks.”
When the combination is completed, the new bank will be the sixth largest bank in the United States in terms of asset size.
“The world is changing and we have to change,” BB&T Chief Executive Kelly King said.
This is all, I believe that needs to be said at this stage.
