Colony Bankcorp is scheduled to complete its purchase of First Reliance Bancshares on Nov. 1, but First Reliance Bank customers are not due to be moved onto Colony Bank’s systems until the second quarter of 2027. Colony’s third-quarter investor presentation lists the “anticipated legal closing on November 1st,” after regulators signed off on Sept. 17 and shareholders of both companies voted their approval on Oct. 14.
For a depositor in Florence, Greenville or Myrtle Beach, the useful question is what a legal closing changes on an ordinary Monday morning. According to the banks’ customer page, the answer for now is nothing: no immediate changes to accounts, services, branch locations, online banking, mobile banking or debit cards.
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Does anything change for a First Reliance account on Nov. 1?
Not on the customer side, based on what both banks have published. “Until the partnership is complete, both banks will continue operating independently,” the customer page says, and customers are told to keep using their current branches, accounts, online banking and cards. They should keep calling their local banker or banking center as they always have.
The banks say updates will arrive by mail, email and on both banks’ websites, with details on coming changes before 2027 and notice “well in advance.” First Reliance’s June announcement also said its South Carolina locations “will continue operating under the First Reliance brand.”
Who is buying whom, and what are the terms?
Colony, based in Fitzgerald, Georgia, agreed on June 24 to acquire 100% of First Reliance’s stock in a deal valued at about $163 million, according to the companies’ joint announcement. Each First Reliance share can be exchanged for $19.75 in cash or 0.94 of a Colony share, with roughly 20% of shares paid in cash and 80% in stock.
First Reliance is headquartered in Florence, South Carolina, with about $1.1 billion in assets. Colony expects the combined company to hold about $5 billion in assets, $4.0 billion in deposits and $3.2 billion in loans, with a presence in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.
Rick Saunders, First Reliance’s founder and chief executive, becomes Colony’s executive vice chairman and joins its board. Justin Strickland, First Reliance’s president, becomes Colony’s president for South Carolina. “Our customers will enjoy access to broader banking capabilities and enhanced technology,” Saunders said in the announcement.
When will account systems actually move?
First Reliance’s second-quarter earnings release said the merger was expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, with systems conversion planned for the second quarter of 2027. Colony’s customer page also puts system integration in the second quarter of 2027, and a summary of First Reliance’s third-quarter results, published Oct. 28, puts it in June 2027.
Heath Fountain, Colony’s chief executive, called the regulatory approvals “a pivotal milestone in bringing Colony Bank and First Reliance Bank together” in a Sept. 17 release, and Saunders said preparations were on track. The customer page lists access to additional banking solutions, expanded lending, enhanced digital tools and more locations as coming later. Neither bank has published which account features change at conversion.
Does a merger change how much of a deposit is insured?
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s standard limit is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each ownership category, and separately chartered banks are insured separately from one another. Colony Bank and First Reliance Bank each carry that coverage today, and the companies have not announced when the two banks will legally combine into one.
When two insured banks do merge, FDIC says the acquired bank’s deposits stay separately insured from the buyer’s for at least six months, which gives depositors time to restructure. Under the agency’s six-month rule, a certificate of deposit that matures after that window stays separately insured until it matures. The window does not matter to anyone who held money at only one of the two banks.
Holding savings at a bank that is changing owners?
A merger notice covers logins and cards. It does not say what the balance in the account is earning, and months of mailings about a Nov. 1 closing and a 2027 conversion can leave that question unasked.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
