By Staff
Jason Cannon
Franklin County Times
After more than 100 years as Citizens Bank, the Franklin County based financial institution is changing its name.
Effective March 3, 2008 Citizens will become CB&S Bank, unifying the bank's name at all 36 of its locations.
"What we've found through some expansions is that there were already existing Citizens Banks in some of those towns," Citizens President and CEO Dennis Upchurch said. "For example, when we opened in Moulton in 1995, there was already a Citizens Bank there that wasn't affiliated with us. As a result, the Moulton branch is known as CBS Bank."
Other similar instances surfaced last year when Citizens Bank purchased several branches in Mississippi and Tennessee.
"When we got into Starkville, Mississippi, again, we found there was already a Citizens Bank there," Upchurch said. "Citizens Bank is a fairly common name and the vast majority of them are not affiliated with our organization."
While the name on the outside of the building may be changing, Upchurch added the name of the banking institution itself is actually always been Citizens Bank and Savings.
"Yes, we're changing the name, but you can see in another way, CB&S has been our name all along. We're just shortening our name to our initials."
Upchurch stressed that the name change was in no way an indication the bank was being bought out or taken over and is not signaling any changes in administration.
"Mr. Batchelor is still going to be Chairman. I'll still be here. The employees will still be here, nothing else is changing," he said. "We're just changing the name."
As far as day-to-day operations go, Upchurch added most customers shouldn't notice the change.
"You can still use Citizens checks. You can still use your Citizens ATM and debit cards. You can still use the same website and the same AccessLine number," he said. "The only change you may notice is when you have to order new checks or a debit card after March 8, they'll say CB&S Bank on them."
Upchurch added that bank routing numbers and account numbers would also remain the same after the transition. Also, those who have loans or mortgages through Citizens will continue to pay using their current agreements and payment books.
The bank will begin mailing letters to its customers in February in preparation of the change.