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St. George • Customers of SunFirst Bank in St. George were doing business Saturday as normal at the drive-up windows a day after it was seized for being undercapitalized and taken over by Cache Valley Bank.
Cache Valley counsel Craig Daines said banners renaming the bank were ready to go up Saturday afternoon.
Acquisition of SunFirst doubles the number of Cache Valley banks to six with three in northern Utah, now two in St. George and one in Hurricane.
As soon as SunFirst closed its doors Friday, state and federal banking officials swooped in and began going through records.
"We look at everything when this [seizure] happens," said Barbara Brunson, an ombudsman specialist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., who was at the bank Friday and Saturday to answer questions about the situation.
A news release explaining the seizure was posted on the bank's main building in St. George and scanned by the curious.
Brunson on Saturday assured bank customers their investments were safe and accessible and that operations involving bank cards, checking accounts, direct deposits and safe deposit boxes will continue as normal.
Daines, who was at SunFirst Saturday, said that Cache Valley, with assets of $316 million, is looking forward to joining the southwestern Utah community and believes in future business success.
He said in the past three years, Cache Valley continued making loans when many larger institutions decreased loan-making.
"Our loans to small business in three years increased 25 percent," said Daines. "While some banks have restricted lending, we're just the opposite and have increased lending. We're a bit of an anomaly."
Daines said most employees with SunFirst have been hired to continue in their jobs.
"We want to reconstitute the bank and move forward," Daines said. "We're not built on the past. There's a new future for the bank."
As part as the transition under new ownership, the bank will observe its regular operating hours Monday.