BB&T (BBT), a large Southeast U.S. regional bank, said Friday it plans to repay its TARP funds as soon as possible, citing the negative perception and conditions that comes along with the bailout cash.

Hours after reporting a 37% plunge in quarterly profit that managed to exceed expectations, BB&T CEO Kelly King told analysts the TARP funds are “destructive” to the company.

“Our plan is to repay the [TARP funds] as soon as it is humanly possible,” Kelly said. “It creates excessive controls, it has a negative impact on our people and our strategies” and “it runs a great risk of politicizing the lending process, which is very unhealthy.”

BB&T, which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C., has received $3.1 billion from the government’s TARP fund, which was established by the U.S. to shore up the shaky financial system. 

Separately, Maryland-based Shore Bancshares (SHBI) said Thursday it returned $25 million of TARP funds, making the holding company the seventh financial-services company to give back the government’s cash.

Shore Bancshares, which is the parent of several banks, insurance companies and mortgage brokers, cited the negative perception hovering over bailed-out banks.

“The company believes it has sufficient capital and access to capital to operate without the TARP money,” CEO W. Moorhead Vermilye said in a statement released last month when Shore Bancshares applied for permission to repay TARP funds.

Shore Bancshares’ repurchase came hours after JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which has received $25 billion in TARP funds, said it’s ready to give back the money as well. On a call with analysts Thursday, CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank is ready to give back the funds “tomorrow” if the U.S. lets it. He also called the rescue money a “scarlet letter.”

In the March press release, Vermilye echoed that sentiment, saying: “It has become clear to us that the public, including many members of Congress, view institutions that participated in Tarp as having done so because they are weak, and not because they wanted to do their part to foster economic recovery."

Vermilye also said the Treasury pitched the TARP program as being designed to “attract broad participation by healthy institutions” and that “our participation in the program was important to restore confidence in our financial system” and get credit flowing again.

After reporting better-than-expected results, Goldman Sachs (GS) also signaled its intent to return $10 billion in TARP funds. The bank successfully raised $5 billion in common equity to offset the repayment.

TARP, a controversial $700 billion fund, was established by the Bush administration in 2008 amid the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression.

Originally designed to unload banks’ toxic assets, something that isn’t an issue for many regional banks, the government instead used TARP to shore up banks’ balance sheets. In some cases banks were forced to accept the funds whether they said they needed them or not.

Several banks have since returned their bailout cash, including New York-based Signature Bank (SBNY), Louisian’s IberiaBank (IBKC), California-based Bank of Martin Bancorp (BMRC) and New Jersey’s Sun Bancorp (SNBC).

Some banks have cited the program’s tough compensation restrictions as the reason to exit, while others have said they want to demonstrate their strength.