FINANCE
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS GOING FORWARD
24
WITH MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
TCBusiness.com
SEACOAST NATIONAL BANK
Seacoast National Bank is the largest bank with headquarters on the Treasure Coast. Seacoast dates back to 1926 in Martin County, and has 50 locations in all,
including 15 on the Treasure Coast, such as this one in Martin Downs, and another one in Okeechobee County.
Deals expected to enhance online customer service as
pandemic changes the social order of banking
Three banks with strong presence
on the Treasure Coast are expanding or
merging, according to deals that were announced
in the months before COVID-19
upset global financial markets.
Customers won’t see many changes
right away, but each of the financial
institutions says customer service will be
enhanced by improved digital banking
platforms, in time for the new remoteness
of American life.
Stuart-based Seacoast National Bank
and its parent, Seacoast Banking Corp.,
announced in November and then again
in January that they were adding smaller
community banks, making it one of the
largest community banks in the state,
with a footprint that extends south to Fort
Lauderdale, north to Daytona Beach, much
of central Florida and west to the Tampa
Bay area.
Seacoast has 50 branches in Florida and
is one of two banks based on the Treasure
Coast, the other being the four-branch
Marine Bank & Trust based in Vero Beach.
Seacoast Bank’s history goes back to the
1926 establishment in Stuart of First Citizens
Bank.
In an area that includes Martin, St. Lucie,
Indian River and Okeechobee counties,
Seacoast, according to a mid-2019 count
by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.,
had 17 branches with $2.31 billion in
deposits, or 16 percent of the area’s total
deposits, second to nationwide Bank of
America. Seacoast was No. 1 in Martin
County in deposits, at $1.38 billion, for
26.4 percent share of total county deposits.
It was fourth in St. Lucie County; sixth
in Indian River; and first in Okeechobee.
In January, CenterState Bank announced
a merger of equals with South State Bank
of Columbia, South Carolina, in a deal
scheduled to close in the third quarter
of this year. The new company will take >>
BY BERNIE WOODALL
/TCBusiness.com
