The Atlanta company, which reported fourth-quarter results Tuesday, said that the lending partnership with American Express will launch in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Dallas within the next 60 days.

The Georgia company will abstain from acquisitions this year as it looks to make internal improvements.

Synovus has given CFO Kevin Blair the additional title of COO. He will oversee three business lines, plus tech, operations and product and treasury management.

Zack Bishop has experience in blending the systems of merged banks, according to Synovus, which this summer announced its first whole-bank deal in more than a decade.

The pressure is on for banks to lean more heavily on capital markets, wealth management and other nonmortgage sources of fee income. That could get tougher in upcoming quarters.

The Columbus, Ga., company ramped up its business and consumer lending even as it scaled back lending on construction and commercial real estate projects.

As Synovus brought all of its 28 banks under the same name and logo, management made sure employees were well informed and comfortable with the changes.

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Double-digit consumer-loan growth more than offset a decline in commercial real estate loan balances.

Banks are capitalizing on changing consumer habits - and satisfying a pressing need to diversify their loan portfolios - with a spate of instant point-of-sale loans for everything from iPhones to home improvements.