BLAIRSVILLE, GA--(Marketwire - Jan 24, 2012) - According to independent research firm, Customer Service Profiles (CSP), United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ: [ UCBI ]) in 2011 earned the highest customer satisfaction rating of all banks they studied nationwide. The performance also was the highest for the bank since CSP began measuring its progress in 2003.

UCBI ended 2011 with an average customer satisfaction score of 95.47 percent, higher than 2010's record rating of 94.55 percent. For December, the bank earned a 96.32 percent score, the highest score of the year and the tenth straight month UCBI's company-wide rating was above 95 percent.

Average banking industry customer satisfaction ratings are approximately 75 percent.

In addition to UCBI's overall achievement, 42 of the bank's 106 locations earned a 100 percent customer satisfaction rating in December 2011.

CSP's customer satisfaction scores are derived by feedback from actual customers conducting transactions throughout UCBI's bank locations.

About United Community Banks, Inc.
Headquartered in Blairsville, United Community Banks is the third-largest bank holding company in Georgia. United has assets of $6.9 billion and operates 27 community banks with 106 banking offices throughout north Georgia, the Atlanta region, coastal Georgia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. United specializes in providing personalized community banking services to individuals and small to mid-size businesses, and also offers the convenience of 24-hour access through a network of ATMs, telephone and on-line banking. United's common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol UCBI. Additional information may be found at United's web site at [ www.ucbi.com ].