United Carolina Bank
Encyclopedia
United Carolina Bank was a bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

 headquartered in Whiteville, North Carolina
Whiteville, North Carolina
Whiteville is a city in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,148 at the 2000 census. It is the only city of Columbus County and is the county seat....

. It was formed in 1980 by the merger of four banks, including Waccamaw Bank of Whiteville. BB&T
BB&T
BB&T Corporation is an American bank with assets of $157 billion , offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international...

 took over UCB in 1997.

History

In 1926, business people in Whiteville raised $10,000 and started Waccamaw Bank and Trust, named for an area lake
Lake Waccamaw
Lake Waccamaw is a unique fresh water lake located in Columbus County in North Carolina. The lake is oval in shape and measures roughly 5.2 by with an average depth of . It covers 36,170,802 square meters, an average width of 2.32 meters and a shoreline of about 22,852 meters...

 and river
Waccamaw River
The Waccamaw River is a river, approximately 140 miles long, in southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina in the United States. It drains an area of approximately 1110 square miles in the coastal plain along the eastern border between the two states into the Atlantic Ocean...

.

American Bank & Trust of Monroe, North Carolina
Monroe, North Carolina
Monroe is a city in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 36,397 as of the 2010 census. It is the seat of government of Union County and is also part of the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC Metropolitan area.-Geography:...

 began May 5, 1930 in the Monroe Hotel after the failure
Bank failure
A bank failure occurs when a bank is unable to meet its obligations to its depositors or other creditors because it has become insolvent or too illiquid to meet its liabilities. More specifically, a bank usually fails economically when the market value of its assets declines to a value that is...

 of Bank of Union during The Great Depression. In 1970 it merged with Waccamaw Bank and Trust to form United Carolina Bancshares, though it kept the American name until 1979. UCB also took over Cape Fear Bank of Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....

 and Capital National Bank of Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...

.

In 1981, UCB opened an 83000 square feet (7,711 m²) operations center near Monroe, which employed 250 people.

In 1982, UCB bought the Bank of Raeford
Raeford, North Carolina
Raeford is a city in Hoke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,386 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hoke County. The county was named after Confederate General Robert F. Hoke, as Tar Heel native....

.

When E. Rhone Sasser became chief executive in 1983, UCB had $857 million in assets.

In 1986, UCB took over Bank of Greer
Greer, South Carolina
Greer is a city in Greenville and Spartanburg counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina, between the cities of Greenville and Spartanburg. The population was 25,515 at the 2010 census. It is projected to hit 30,000 within 4 years. Each day, more than three times that number of people pass...

 with $150 million in assets and eight offices in Greenville
Greenville County, South Carolina
- External Links :*...

 and Spartanburg Counties, for $284 million. The Bank of Greer offices began operating as United Carolina Bank of South Carolina.

In 1987, UCB began opening branches in Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie
Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Winn-Dixie has ranked number 24 in the 2010 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2009 fiscal year estimated sales of $7.3 billion by Supermarket News. and was ranked the 43rd largest retailer in the...

s in North Carolina, joining CCB
CCB
CCB may refer to:In Asian economics:* China Construction Bank, one of the 'big four' banks in the People's Republic of China* China Construction Bank , a licensed bank incorporated in Hong KongIn Australian schools:...

 as the second bank in the state to open grocery store branches in North Carolina. The first branch was not a success, however, and the plan was dropped.

Also in 1987, UCB announced a new four-story building to house 200 workers next to its headquarters in Whiteville, putting an end to rumors the bank would move its headquarters to Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

, where the Johnston Building was called the UCB Building. At the time, UCB had $1.9 billion in assets and 114 locations. 380 of its employees worked in Whiteville, a town of 5565 people.

In 1991, UCB added its second and third branches in Moore County
Moore County, North Carolina
Moore County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 74,769. Its county seat is Carthage.- History :The county was formed in 1784 from Cumberland County...

. The bank had an Aberdeen
Aberdeen, North Carolina
Aberdeen is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,400 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aberdeen is located at ....

 branch already when it opened a Pinehurst
Pinehurst, North Carolina
Pinehurst is a village in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,706 at the 2000 census. It is the location of the Pinehurst Resort, venue of the 1936 PGA Championship, the 1951 Ryder Cup. The host site for the 1999, 2005,& 2014 U.S. Open Golf Championships, the 2008 U.S....

 location. Also, UCB was buying a Barclays Bank branch in Southern Pines
Southern Pines, North Carolina
Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 10,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Southern Pines is located at ....

.

In 1994, UCB bought its first western North Carolina bank, Bank of Iredell
Iredell County, North Carolina
Iredell County, along with Moore County in the eastern Piedmont, are among a very few counties in the United States sharing borders with nine adjacent counties.-Demographics:...

 in Statesville
Statesville, North Carolina
Statesville is a city located in Iredell County, North Carolina, United States and was named an All-America City in 1997 and 2009. The population was 24,633 at the 2010 census...

, with 79.4 million in assets and five branches.

In October 1995, UCB agreed to buy Triad Bank, the last locally owned bank in Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...

 in a deal valued at $40 million. When the deal was completed, UCB would have branches in the Piedmont Triad
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...

 for the first time. Triad Bank had eleven branches, eight of those in Greensboro, and assets of $199 million, and had taken over Bankers Trust of North Carolina in 1993; Bankers Trust had in turn taken over Piedmont State Bank.

UCB's fourth acquisition of the 1990s was Seaboard Savings Bank of Plymouth, North Carolina
Plymouth, North Carolina
Plymouth is the largest town in Washington County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,107 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Washington County...

. UCB was North Carolina's eighth-largest bank with assets of $3.7 billion. However, other banks in the state were doing a better job of growing through mergers.

In 1997, Southern National Corp. of Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...

, which operated as BB&T
BB&T
BB&T Corporation is an American bank with assets of $157 billion , offering full-service commercial and retail banking services along with other financial services like insurance, investments, retail brokerage, mortgage, corporate finance, consumer finance, payment services, international...

, took over UCB in a $985 million deal announced in November 1996. UCB had $4.5 billion in assets. 400 employees worked in Whiteville but despite losing the headquarters, the town would eventually have 500 BB&T employees working at a 250-employee call center
Call centre
A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...

 and other operations. Starting September 22, 1997, 91 UCB branches began the process of changing to BB&T, and 67 other branches of the two banks closed starting in October because they were close to other BB&T locations. South Piedmont Community College
South Piedmont Community College
South Piedmont Community College is a community college located in North Carolina consisting of two campuses and an auxiliary center which serve the areas of Anson and Union counties in south-central North Carolina....

bought the Monroe operations center in 2000 to serve as its Monroe Continuing Education Center, later expanding the campus at the site.
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