CERTIFICATION OF PERIODIC REPORT
                        --------------------------------

I, James H. Blanchard, Chief Executive Officer of Synovus Financial Corp. (the
"Company"), certify, pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
18 U.S.C. Section 1350, that:

(1)      the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of the Company for the quarterly
         period ended June 30, 2002 (the "Report") fully complies with the
         requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act
         of 1934; and

(2)      the information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all
         material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of
         the Company.



Dated: August 14, 2002                               /s/James H. Blanchard
                                                     --------------------------
                                                        James H. Blanchard
                                                        Chief Executive Officer









SNV\Periodic-certify.doc




                                  Exhibit 99.1