Colonial Bank, an Alabama-based bank with $25bn in assets, was closed on Friday by US regulators in the biggest US banking collapse of the year. Regulators then brokered the sale of its branches and deposits to BB&T, one of the largest lenders in the south-eastern US.

Colonial’s 346 branches will reopen on Saturday under the BB&T banner, said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was named receiver of the bank after it was closed by the Alabama State Banking Department.