Citizens First Bank

Citizens First Bank is a community bank that was founded on July 1, 1991, and is headquartered in The Villages, Florida.[1] As of 2020, Citizens First Bank has 12 branches throughout Central Florida.[2] It holds more than $2 billon in assets and is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.[3] Citizens First Bank is the tenth largest bank in the state of Florida.[4] A 2014 report claimed that over 72 percent of residents in The Villages, Florida banked with Citizens First Bank.[5] As of 2018, Citizens First Bank had a market share of over 51 percent in The Villages.[6] The company has been noted for its customer service, particularly offering amenities such as lobby hosts and popcorn to customers.[7] The bank has a primarily older clientele, composed mainly of retirees and seasonal residents.[7]

Citizens First Bank
Formerly
First Bank of the Villages
IndustryBanking
Founded1991
HeadquartersThe Villages, Florida
Number of locations
12 (2020)
Area served
Central Florida; The Villages, Florida
Key people
Lindsey M. Blaise, President & CEO
ProductsChecking accounts, savings accounts, IRAs, CDs, credit cards, and mortgage loans.
Total assets$2.4 billion (2019)
Number of employees
336
ParentVillages Bancorporation, Inc.
Websitemycitizensfirst.com

History

Originally founded as First Bank of the Villages in 1991,[8] Citizens First Bank was renamed in 1998.[8] Citizens First Bank was created by Harold Schwartz, the founder of The Villages.[9] According to Schwartz, the bank was, "created specifically to fill the needs of our community and to conscientiously and joyously serve our Villages residents in every possible way."[9] In 2001, the bank moved their headquarters from Lady Lake, Florida to The Villages, Florida.[8] Lindsey M. Blaise, granddaughter of Villages founder Gary Morse,[10] has served as President & CEO since 2019.[11] In 2017, Citizens First Bank sold its Leesburg, Florida branch to a real estate developer and moved to a newly built location.[12] The company also announced plans to open a new branch in Fruitland Park, Florida that year.[12]

In 2018, Citizens First Bank purchased a branch office from CBC National Bank in The Villages, FL. At the time of purchase, the branch had about $35 million in deposits.[13] In 2018, the company announced plans to open a new branch near the Village of Fenney, further expanding southward.[14]

In 2019, news broke of the bank's plans to build a new headquarters in Wildwood, Florida.[15] In January 2019, the Wildwood City Council accepted a $3 million offer for an 18-acre parcel of city-owned land. The company plans to build a 45,000 square-foot administrative building on the land.[16]

In October 2019, the company announced plans to open a new branch in Ocala, Florida.[17]

Structure

Citizens First Bank is owned and operated by Villages Bancorporation, Inc.[18] As of 2020, the bank had over 300 employees, twelve branch locations, and over 60 ATMs throughout Central Florida.[19] Citizens First Bank operates mainly in The Villages, Florida, with branches in the surrounding communities of Leesburg, Florida and Fruitland Park, Florida.[2] The bank also began operating a branch in Clermont, Florida in 2007,[20] but later closed it.

Other services

Citizens First Bank offers wealth and investment management services under the name Citizens First Wealth Advisors.[21]

Community involvement

Citizens First Bank has been involved in numerous community outreach efforts over the years, including homebuilding partnerships with Habitat for Humanity,[22] scholarship donations to the Buffalo Scholarship Foundation,[23] and participation in local events such as the Villages Charter School Annual BBQ Bash[24], Bless Fruitland Park's Love Week[25] and The Villages Relay for Life.[26] Citizens First Bank also created a scam prevention program called Fraud Busters. Since its inception in 2009, the program has saved customers nearly $1 million by stopping scam-related activity.[27] In 2018, Citizens First Bank sponsored the construction of a home in Lady Lake, Florida, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Lake-Sumter.[28] In 2020, during the coronavirus crisis, Citizens First Bank successfully secured $105 million in Paycheck Protection Program funds for small businesses in the area.[29]

Awards

In 2019, Coral Gables, Florida, based financial rating agency, Bauer Financial, gave Citizens First Bank a five-star rating.[30]

In May 2020, Citizens First Bank was named number 24 out of 25 for banks with more than $1 billion in assets in the Independent Community Bankers of America's Best of the Best.[31]

In June 2020, DepositAccounts.com named Citizens First Bank one of its Top 200 Healthiest Banks of 2020.[4]

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References
  1. "FDIC: BankFind Search Details". Research.fdic.gov. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  2. "Locations & Hours". Citizensfb.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  3. "Citizens First Bank of The Villages, FL Reviews and Ratings - Bankrate.com". Bankrate.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  4. "Citizens First Bank (FL)". Deposit Accounts. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. Report, Staff (16 May 2014). "The Villages remains a family business". Villages-news.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  6. "FDIC Market Share Report". research.fdic.gov. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  7. Corder, David (13 October 2006). "Local Population Boom Creates Frenzied Financial Market". www.thevillagesdailysun. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  8. "FDIC: BankFind Search Details". Research.fdic.gov. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  9. "About Us". Citizensfb.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  10. "Gary Morse's granddaughter named president of Citizens First Bank". Villages-news.com. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  11. "Detail by Entity Name". Search.sunbiz.org. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  12. Brown, Roxanne (29 June 2017). "Citizens First Bank Moving and Branching Out". www.dailycommercial.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  13. "The Daily Sun" (PDF). Citizensfb.com. July 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  14. Martin, Brenden (21 September 2018). "Citizens First Bank Branch Rings in 2 Years" (PDF). www.mycitizensfirst.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  15. Corder, David (25 January 2019). "Citizens First Plans Facility in Wildwood" (PDF). www.mycitizensfirst.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  16. Balousek, Marv (29 January 2019). "Wildwood officials OK $3 million offer from Citizens First Bank on controversial property". Villages-news.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  17. "Ocala Branch Coming Soon". Citizensfb.com. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  18. "Bank Report: Citizens First Bank". ibanknet.com. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  19. "Bank's Commercial Team Ready to Serve" (PDF). www.mycitizensfirst.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  20. Corder, David R. "Citizens First posts solid growth". The Villages Daily Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  21. "Meet Our Advisors". Citizensfb.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  22. "Youth Construction Academy". Habitatls.org. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  23. "Scholarship Opportunies for Buffalo Scholarship Foundation Students". Buffaloscholarshipfoundation.org. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  24. Love, Angela (4 March 2017). "Friends gather at Spanish Springs to sample fare at BBQ Bash". Village-news.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  25. Jarro, Summer (11 February 2020). "Citizens First bank hosts event to support Love Week". www.thevillagesdailysun.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  26. Moon, Daisy (20 January 2010). "Villages Relay for Life". www.thevillagesdailysun.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  27. "Citizens Fraud Buster Soaring Success" (PDF). Citizensfb.com. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  28. Stuart, Rachel (11 May 2019). "VHS Seniors Build Family's First Home" (PDF). www.thevillagesdailysun.com. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  29. Corder, David (13 May 2020). "Our Hometown Bank Rescues Workforce". www.thevillagesdailysun.com. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  30. "Bauer Financial Bank Ratings: Citizens First Bank". bauerfinancial.com. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  31. "ICBA Best of the Best 2020". independentbanker.org. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
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