BB&T is purchasing SunTrust for around $28 billion in an all stock deal; the merging of the banks will create...
SunTrust Bank saw the writing on the wall a couple of years ago, their aged technology was not efficient and new startup lenders were able to provide loans a lot faster; it took 18 months to overhaul their systems but the bank is now ready to go live with a unified, faster operation they feel is ready to compete in this new fintech era; "When you think about what clients want, most of all they want their money quickly, and they go to fintechs because of the speed," said Pam Kilday, head of operations at SunTrust bank; Pam Kilday says, "We see speed as a competitive edge and we want to be at the forefront." Source
SunTrust Bank, Ally Ventures and Amazon Alexa Fund teamed up with others to raise $16mn for Greenlight Financial Technology; Greenlight makes smart debit cards for kids and college students to spend more wisely; The company also offers a mobile app complete with parental controls so parents can teach their kids how to spend; this is a further jump into financial services for Amazon as it looks to enter the space through the partnership model. Source