The oldest bank in Habersham County was one of two Georgia banks closed by bank regulators Friday.
Regulators seized the assets of Cornelia-based Community Bank & Trust and Carrollton-based First National Bank of Georgia, making the two banks the first to fail in Georgia this year.
Assets from the troubled bank will be purchased by South Carolina Bank and Trust of Orangeburg, S.C., according to a news release from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Community Bank & Trust has 36 locations, seven in Hall County.
The bank’s Web site said Community Bank & Trust, which was founded in 1900, was the first bank to install automated teller machines and the first bank in the country to open up branches inside supermarkets.
Its subsidiary, Financial Supermarkets Inc., was also the first company to introduce in-store banking in Europe.
FDIC officials said all 36 branches will reopen during normal business hours as branches of South Carolina Bank and Trust, but the news release from the FDIC states that customers will not be able to use other South Carolina Bank and Trust branches until they receive notice.
Depositors of Community Bank & Trust can still access their money this weekend by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards, and checks with the bank’s name on them will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual, the release said.
As of Sept. 30, Community Bank & Trust had approximately $1.21 billion in total assets and $1.11 billion in total deposits. Deposits in the bank’s Hall County branches totaled about 5.58 percent of the county’s total deposits on June 30.
In addition to assuming all of the deposits, South Carolina Bank and Trust agreed to purchase all of the failed bank’s $827.7 million in assets.
The FDIC said the cost of the bank’s closing will be about $354.5 million to the FDIC insurance fund.
South Carolina Bank and Trust’s purchase of Community Bank & Trust’s assets was the least costly option, the news release said.
Customers who have questions about Friday’s transaction can call the FDIC at 800-430-7974. The phone number will be operational 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. thereafter.