The new banking facility had a ribbon cutting on Thursday. It is located at 2215 Everglades Lane.
By Summer Jarro | Daily Sun Staff Writer | July 16, 2021
Citizens First Bank celebrated the grand opening of its newest branch office on Thursday just days after celebrating its 30th year in The Villages. The Villages hometown community bank commemorated the opening of the Magnolia Plaza branch, 2215 Everglades Lane, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The bank developed this branch specifically to provide convenience to customers living in the southern area of The Villages, said Lindsey Blaise, the bank's president and CEO.
"We are very excited to be opening our branch in Magnolia Plaza," she said. "It will allow us to better serve the residents in The Villages south of State Road 44. It is just one part of our plan to continuously add more banking services!'
Offering New Features
Founded July 1, 1991, the community bank has expanded with branches in Leesburg, Fruitland Park and Ocala.
The new location is the 10th branch office in The Villages, and it's offering some new customer services. Features include a new lobby layout that will help serve customers and visitors better.
It is designed to do a teller transaction, open an account or do account maintenance, all with the same banker, Blaise said.
"The branch will also be home to one of our mortgage lenders who will be there to serve the financing needs of residents in that area;” she said.
Along with the new branch location, Citizens First Bank has recently opened two image-enabled ATMs located at Water Lily Recreation Center and Riverbend Recreation Center to offer more banking services for Villagers in the southern portion of the community.
The ATMs will allow Citizens First Bank clients to make withdrawals, check balances and deposit checks and cash.
Jay Bartholomew, executive vice president and chief banking officer, is excited about how the new branch complements the bank's growing network of customer conveniences.