The new signs will go up in October. And Merchants and Farmers Bank will then be known as First Citizens Bank and Trust.
First Citizens bought Merchants and Farmers last year, but the 74-year-old Madison County bank kept its name in the deal, though only on a temporary basis.
“When the transaction happened last summer, it was always the intention that the signs would change, but at that time it was not something that was going to be done right away,” said Merchants and Farmers President Johnny Terrell. “But now there is time for their (First Citizens) acquisitions team to get this done now. They’ve got some open space now and that is one of the reasons that it happened before anybody thought it would happen. But in my mind, it was always going to happen.”
Angela English, corporate communications director for First Citizens Bankcorp Inc., said the name change was always understood as the next step in the acquisition.
“We just didn’t quite know the timing of it,” said English. “So now we have agreed upon a time of mid-October for that conversion to occur.”
English said the change will give Merchants’ customers greater access to banking services offered by First Citizens’ 180 branches in Georgia and South Carolina.
“It actually gives us the ability to link Franklin, Stephens and Hart counties and give customers a broader array of products that they may not have had with Merchants and Farmers,” said English.
Terrell said he likes the fact that First Citizens is a rural-based banking company. He noted that Merchants and Farmers is solely based in Madison County and that First Citizens was attracted to doing business in this county.
“One of the real positives is that First Citizens has a long history and has a lot of branches that are in the community banking business as we know it here in Madison County,” said Terrell. “They’re not in urban areas; they’re in rural areas. And what this does is give us a lot better platform for products and services to offer our customers, a wider array.”
Terrell said the faces the public sees at the bank will remain the same.
“There will be changes to the staff in operations, but as far as the customer contact people that all remains the same,” said Terrell. “… The sign can change, but the people that you’re dealing with remain the same.”
We should have known they would do this!!!!
This is not good for our community next thing you know they will replace all the hometown people with people from out of town !!!!
I HATE THIS for our county !!!!!!!!!!
Money talks and the BS walks!!!!!!!!!!
This is what happens when money gets involved!!!!!!!!
Everyone forgets the people who supported this bank all these years when there is money involved to pad their pockets !!!!!!!!Sounds just like the Bank Of Danielsville to me !!!!Remember that deal ? All about money and padding their pockets!!!!!!!!
How do you like that 2009 ?
OH, I guess you got your pockets padded in that deal ?
*eyeroll*
Big banks are never honest just look where they are now!!!!