First Citizens Bank customers will experience little change in their day-to-day banking despite the FDIC’s July 14 approval of the merger of its parent company, First Citizen BancShares Inc., with CIT Group Inc.
MORE: Queensborough Bank Rolling Out New Technology in Augusta
“The logo won’t change and the name won’t change, but CIT has some sophisticated products that we can bring into play in this market now,” said Michael O’Neill, Augusta market executive at First Citizens Bank. “Even behind the scenes, there won’t be much shifting. We want to bring on CIT thoughtfully.”
The deal was announced in October 2020. It can now go forward fully. First Citizens has a handful of locations in both Augusta and across the river into North Augusta.
[adrotate banner=”54″]
First Citizens Bank is based out of Raleigh, N.C. As a result of this merger, First Citizens will become the 19th largest bank and one of the largest family-controlled banks. O’Neill said customers are consistently surprised how big the bank is because of its family-oriented nature and history.
CIT Group is a financial holdings’ group that operated CIT Bank, a bank with locations primarily in California, with some branches in Arizona, Nevada and Nebraska. When the merger was announced, shares of First Citizens were trading around $400 per share. On July 19, they were around $744. According to The Motley Fool, the acquisition brings First Citizens to over $100 billion in assets and also gives the bank a substantial commercial lending portfolio from CIT.
In the last year’s pandemic-laden economy, O’Neill said there was a focus on educating the bank’s customers on accessing the technology that was already read and in place, but was made more of a necessity than a choice.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
“It was the perfect catalyst for the 70-year-old client, for example, who may seem reluctant about taking a picture of their check and depositing it that way, but we now see that kind of customer completely embracing that technology,” O’Neill said.
He said banks also starting closing some of their lobbies from 1 to 3 p.m. each day when there was never a rush of customers anyway, allowing employees to focus on other work.
MORE: Banks are Closing Everywhere, Including Some in CSRA
“It’s an interesting time in banking because people are becoming more accustomed to the technology, but at the same time, it’s a people business, and we need to be meeting with people to help meet all their financial needs,” O’Neill said. “At the end of the day, the family that runs First Citizens Bank will be at the helm of this ship.”
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”37″]
