Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Note 11 - Commitments and Contingencies

In the normal course of business, Synovus enters into commitments to extend credit such as loan commitments and letters of credit to meet the financing needs of its customers. Synovus uses the same credit policies in making commitments and conditional obligations as it does for on-balance sheet instruments. Commitments to extend credit are agreements to lend to a customer as long as there is no violation of any condition established in the contract. Commitments generally have fixed expiration dates or other termination clauses and may require payment of a fee.

The contractual amount of these financial instruments represents Synovus' maximum credit risk should the counterparty draw upon the commitment, and should the counterparty subsequently fail to perform according to the terms of the contract. Since many of the commitments are expected to expire without being drawn upon, total commitment amounts do not necessarily represent future cash requirements.

The carrying amount of loan commitments and letters of credit closely approximates the fair value of such financial instruments. Carrying amounts include unamortized fee income and, in some instances, allowances for any estimated credit losses from these financial instruments. These amounts are not material to Synovus' consolidated balance sheets.

Unfunded lending commitments and letters of credit at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 are presented below.



(in thousands)	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015
Letters of credit*	$	191,766	166,936
Commitments to fund commercial real estate, construction, and land development loans	1,852,670		1,882,130
Unused credit card lines	1,057,833		1,055,181
Commitments under home equity lines of credit	1,073,028		1,051,386
Commitments to fund commercial and industrial loans	4,168,486		4,094,809
Other loan commitments	294,357		284,706
Total unfunded lending commitments and letters of credit	$	8,638,140	8,535,148

* Represents the contractual amount net of risk participations of $63 million and $66 million at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively.