August 7, 2006 - Winston-Salem, N.C. - BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) is second in the nation in home mortgage customer service satisfaction - and first among banks - according to J.D. Power.

The global marketing information firm has ranked BB&T among the top three banks for home mortgage customer service in its past five surveys.

The J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Primary Mortgage Servicer Study is based on responses from nearly 13,000 home mortgage customers and involves the largest home mortgage providers in the nation, according to the marketing information firm's Web site.

The survey asked homeowners about how their accounts are administered, about the billing and payments process, and about getting in touch with their mortgage company if need be.

"At BB&T Mortgage, we love putting people into homes and it shows in the integrity, fairness and caring enthusiasm of our employees," said Tim Dale, BB&T's Mortgage Lending manager. "We're honored to again be recognized by our clients for superior client satisfaction."

The responsibility for servicing a loan changes hands at least once in nearly half of all mortgages, the study found. That leads to lower satisfaction scores compared with mortgages that are serviced by their originators throughout. Unlike most of its peers, BB&T retains servicing on all its mortgage loans.

The study also noted that nearly 50 percent of customers now pay their mortgage bill electronically - compared to just 34 percent two years ago. Electronic payments, whether automatically deducted from a customer's bank account or made online, result in higher customer satisfaction levels overall.

BB&T's mortgage loan portfolio was $42.7 billion on June 30. In 2005, its mortgage loan production was $10.5 billion.

BB&T was ranked second overall in the survey behind USAA Federal Savings Bank, a San Antonio, Texas -based mutual insurance company which specializes in the military community.

J.D. Power also conducts annual customer satisfaction surveys on mortgage origination and home equity loans and lines of credit. More information is available at www.jdpower.com. For more BB&T Mortgage information, visit www.BBT.com/mortgage.

Westlake Village, Calif.-based J.D. Power and Associates is an international marketing information services firm specializing in market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corporation and its subsidiaries offer full-service commercial and retail banking and additional financial services such as insurance, investments, retail brokerage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international banking, leasing and trust.