Growth of BB&T linked to eminent-domain stance

When BB&T bank — which has 241 branches in Northern Virginia, Washington and Maryland — announced in January it would no longer finance commercial development based on eminent-domain seizures, there was no way the bank could know it would trigger a rush of new accounts.

“The policy was announced in January, and in February we had more net new accounts posted than in any previous month in the bank’s history,” BB&T spokesman Bob Denham said.