Citizens First Bank
FormerlyFirst Bank of the Villages
IndustryBanking
Founded1991
HeadquartersThe Villages, Florida
Number of locations
14 (2021)
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$3.6 billion (2021)
Number of employees
364
ParentVillages Bancorporation, Inc.
Websitemycitizensfirst.com

Citizens First Bank is a community bank that was founded on July 1, 1991, and is headquartered in The Villages, Florida.[1] As of 2021, Citizens First Bank has 14 branches throughout Central Florida.[2] It holds more than $2 billion 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]

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 2021, the bank had over 300 employees, fourteen branch locations, and over 70 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]

References

  1. ↑ "FDIC: BankFind Search Details". Research.fdic.gov. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 "Citizens First Bank (FL)". Deposit Accounts. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Staff Report (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. 1 2 Corder, David (13 October 2006). "Local Population Boom Creates Frenzied Financial Market". www.thevillagesdailysun. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 "FDIC: BankFind Search Details". Research.fdic.gov. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  9. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2020. 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 Opportunities for Buffalo Scholarship Foundation Students". Buffaloscholarshipfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  24. ↑ Love, Angela (4 March 2017). "Friends gather at Spanish Springs to sample fare at BBQ Bash". Village-news.comaccessdate=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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