“Can a 138-year-old Southeast regional bank build a real embedded finance franchise (Maast) before being consolidated into a larger competitor?”
Founded in 1888 as Columbus Bank and Trust, Synovus grew into a regional Southeast US commercial and retail bank with ~$62B in assets. Beginning 2022, Synovus pushed into embedded finance by acquiring a majority stake in payments processor Qualpay and launching Maast, a money-as-a-service platform combining payments, banking, and lending for ISVs. Subsequent partnerships (Fintainium, Koxa) extended the embedded banking reach into ERPs and AP/AR. Synovus was acquired by Pinnacle Financial Partners on January 2, 2026 and no longer operates as an independent company.
Synovus discloses Synovus Bank (in-house) and Maast (in-house) as its banking providers, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Synovus does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Synovus Bank (in-house) and Maast (in-house).
Synovus processes payments through Qualpay (subsidiary), Synovus Merchant Services (self-operated) and Synovus Commerce Suite (self-operated).
Synovus's cards are issued through Synovus Bank (in-house) on the Visa network.
Synovus's lending and capital products are provided by Synovus Bank (in-house) and Maast (in-house).
Synovus's investing and wealth products are powered by Synovus Trust Company, N.A. (in-house).
Synovus integrates with ERP systems (via Koxa / Gateway ERP) and Fintainium (AR/AP for ERPs via Maast).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 9 layers in Synovus's stack: Payments / PSP (Qualpay (subsidiary), Synovus Merchant Services (self-operated) and Synovus Commerce Suite (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (Synovus Bank (in-house) and Maast (in-house)); Card issuing (Synovus Bank (in-house)); Card network (Visa); Lending (Synovus Bank (in-house), Maast (in-house), Business Loans, Business Lines of Credit and 3 others); Investing (Synovus Trust Company, N.A. (in-house)); Accounting (ERP systems (via Koxa / Gateway ERP) and Fintainium (AR/AP for ERPs via Maast)); Spend / AP (Synovus Bank (in-house)); Treasury (Synovus Bank (in-house) and Koxa).
Synovus is founded in 1888 and headquartered in Columbus, Georgia, USA.
Synovus's acquisitions include Qualpay (2022).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Synovus and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.