| Citizens First Bank | |
| Former Name: | First Bank of the Villages |
| Industry: | Banking |
| Hq Location City: | The Villages, Florida |
| Hq Location Country: | United States |
| Num Locations: | 14 (2021) |
| Area Served: | Central Florida; The Villages, Florida |
| Key People: | Lindsey M. Blaise, President & CEO |
| Products: | Checking accounts, savings accounts, IRAs, CDs, credit cards, and mortgage loans. |
| Assets: | $3.6 billion (2021) |
| Num Employees: | 364 |
| Num Employees Year: | 2021 |
| Parent: | Villages Bancorporation, Inc. |
Citizens First Bank is an American community bank that is headquartered in The Villages, Florida.[1] It was founded on July 1, 1991.
, Citizens First Bank had 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], 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]
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]
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.
Citizens First Bank offers wealth and investment management services under the name Citizens First Wealth Advisors.[21]
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]
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]