ASHEVILLE — Asheville Savings Bank completed a transition over the weekend to become part of one of the largest community banks in the region.
The local bank, chartered in 1936, now is part of Southern Pines, North Carolina-based First Bancorp, the parent company of First Bank. It is the result of a merger agreement first announced last year when First Bancorp acquired Asheville Savings Bank’s parent company in a cash and stock transaction of $175 million, or $43.12 per share.
The deal was approved unanimously by the boards of directors of each company and later received required regulatory approvals in August 2017 to acquire ASB Bancorp Inc.
MORE: Asheville Savings Bank, homegrown institution, sold for $175M
Banks continue moving out of Madison County
No more IOUs: These apps let you pay your friends
With the merger, the 13 Asheville Savings Bank locations in the Asheville, Marion and Brevard areas now are First Bank branches with customers of the former absorbed into the system as of Monday.
“The biggest challenge is making sure when a customer of Asheville Savings Bank walks in to a branch that is now First Bank, their needs are met and everything works,” First Bancorp CEO Richard Moore told the Citizen Times on Tuesday.
Moore, formerly the North Carolina state treasurer, said that’s “a pretty big mission,” but one they’re ready to tackle with more than 100 branches and numerous online banking options.
First Bank is not new to Asheville, however. It had branches in town after taking over Bank of Asheville in 2011. At the time, Bank of Asheville, which was shuttered by state regulators, operated five branches with about $210 million in assets.
As of last year, Asheville Savings Bank had reported assets of $803 million with branches in Asheville, Black Mountain, Brevard, Candler, Fletcher, Hendersonville, Marion and Mars Hill. With the merger now completed, it brings First Bank up to $5.2 billion in assets, $3.9 billion in loans and $4.3 billion in deposits.
Additionally, First Bank has 110 employees in Western North Carolina as well as about 1,200 in total throughout the Carolinas.
Suzanne DeFerie, former president and CEO of Asheville Savings Bank, said last year the bank is “proud to become part of a longstanding, community banking focused organization.” DeFerie now serves as an executive vice president at First Bank and sits on the organization’s 14-member board of directors.
Moore said the transition for former Asheville Savings Bank members is largely about “knowing where customers are and being prepared to meet them there.”
“The bottom line in our industry is people are going into branches less, they are doing more transactions electronically from their phones or desktop,” he said, “but they still want to know that there are people they know in a real building down the street safeguarding their money.”
First Bank has set up a transition site for Asheville Savings Bank members online at localfirstbank.com/ashevillesavingsbank.