Going going gone
 

Last month they got rid of villages insurance and today’s article in the sun the bank is next. Taken over by Seacoast bank. They have 79 locations and the villages bank 19. Next maybe villages golf cart stores.

Eastport costing a lot more than anticipated, and more cash is needed. . .

Gone
 

What about selling the Morse Daily News? One can hope.

My local bank is Citizens First, and I was shocked when I logged in this morning. I know this is the early stages of the merger, but I'm wondering if the name change will affect my direct deposits and other online banks I have connected to Citizens First.

I am having nightmares about contacting all the bill pays, including IRS for estimated tax quarterly payments and Social Security. Further, even though I use few checks, I ordered extra last time just to avoid the inconvenience of another order. Ugh!

Mergers and acquisitions happen frequently in the banking world. Account numbers and routing numbers probably won't change for years, if ever. No worry.

More likely the current generation taking some gains before they retire and hand it over to the next generation.

Changes
 

Expect a lot of changes, not just the name. During my career, I was involved with mergers. One reason for them is consolidation of duplicated operations for expense reduction. Put another way, some people will lose their jobs. Seacoast's PR piece doesn't address this issue. On the upside, maybe Seacoast will update Citizen's electronic banking capabilities.

This is going to be scary for those of us who were born with one last name, eventually got married and took our spouse's last name. The new laws require more forms of ID now than just a REAL ID, if you change banks for your monthly social security deposit.

But what if the bank changes itself? Will we have the same account and routing number? If not, this could get messy. I know my birth certificate has my first, middle, and last name at birth. My REAL ID Drivers License has only my first and last name at marriage, and so does my social security card. I'm not sure where my marriage certificate is, but if I need a new copy it involves more paperwork and fees, plus Connecticut requires a postal money order only and not a personal check, and they don't take credit cards for payment. So that means more fees.

All this to prove that I am the person I was when I first filled out my Social Security deposit information, and all because I'm a married woman who took my husband's name when I got married, and that last name doesn't match the last name on my birth certificate. Which - they knew, because they gave me that Real ID, which required all that information back when I still lived in Connecticut.

Same here in the 1990s, I would not be worried about the routing checking account numbers, etc. for quite a while. We centralized back office functions, but migrating banking accounting software should not happen for several years, and is a separate back office system. my checking account is with Bank of America, and i have had it since the 1980s 3-4 maybe 5 banks ago.


good luck to us!

No surprise...............The Villages is a land developer......They DEVELOP.

Land developers are not interested in banking, newpapers, radio stations, water treatment facilities, local government, etc., etc., etc.

:oops:

Went through this when BB&T became Truist, no problems.

Talk about borrowing trouble, i suggest relaxing and deal with things as they come along. We've gone through banks being absorbed by other institutions and there were no issues.

The laws were different then. The new laws only affect people who have a different last name than the name that was on their birth certificate, or people who never had a birth certificate (some families in the Appalachians had their kids at home and never registered their births, for instance - there are other examples but that's the one I know of most).

It's not "borrowing trouble." It's "being prepared" for changes in laws that have recently been passed.

/// Never mind. Can't convince the world that they key to not panicking is preparation for reasonably foreseeable events.

The Appalachian example is not persuasive. St. Dolly Parton was born "at home" in a small rural town (Pittman Center, who had a 2020 census population under 500 - even fewer when Dolly was born in 1946). She travels extensively internationally, so getting a passport and other "proof of birth / proof of life" government documents is clearly possible.

No more saturating the vacant homes with papers on super Saturdays? Seems like a cost savings there. I think everyone can relax as I doubt you will need all new banking numbers, etc. You did give up your rotary phone didn’t you?

They didn't get rid of the Villages insurance, it was bought by the Baldwin Group which also bought several other brokers here in Florida. It's a larger company with more reach and options so it's a plus for us here.

It’s this. When they started, they needed the bank and insurance company, to assist in the land development.
They will probably hang onto the communication assets, they use them for the advertising and to keep the vibe at the squares.

I believe in the preparation part, it was all the angst that threw me.:mornincoffee:

Spoke with "villages insurance" yesterday morning and commented on this very topic, the insurance company was sold about 15 years ago and because of the successful identity associated with Villages Insurance locally they kept the name until recently. Behind the scenes it had been changed over long ago, they just decided to change the signs and letterheads recently and complete the transition.

And are golf courses next?

There you go again, delivering facts

Villages Insurance has not changed. Where did you hear this rumor, rocketman?

Whatever became of that girl, anyway?

Family owned bank. 53% market share in the community. The bank most likely to be used when buying a house here. Large, local, and you can talk to real people.

The three Morse siblings are in their mid to late sixties, right? It wasn’t easy to find a really talented family member to run the bank. Why not accept an offer of $711 MILLION? They’ve put their lives into this place. Time to cash out, a bit at a time. Thinking of retiring. They’ve earned it. I’m grateful for their hard work.

Love that paper.

So true. Glad for all their hard work, for all of us.

Mergers and acqusitions.
 

Eastport and the mergers are unrelated. Eastport is funded by public bonds that are then sold to investors. The others are business mergers by companies who see The Villages as a GREAT place to do business.

True, but it's fun to create rumors.

:22yikes::22yikes:

thanks for the facts once again

Mergers and consolidation in the financial services sector is a constant. Given the continuous insurance rate increases over the past 26 quarters the valuations for agencies has been at an all time high.

In addition, both banking and insurance are among the most regulated business in this country so the insurance commissioner and regulations should mitigate any disruption. Branding takes time and as noted, often phased in over years to minimize disruption and loss of market due to name recognition. Most insurance buyers have difficulty distinguishing between the sales force (agent/broker) and the actual insurer, never mind the technical coverage, pricing and other elements that matter. Most of us just want covered claims paid when presented, or defended and indemnified if needed.

Our local bank in CT was bought and sold five times in the past 25-years, with little to no disruption and essentially seamless to customers other than a new logo and usually updated systems. I can’t remember when I actually had to step into a bank branch as everything is online, to include deposits, ACH/ETF, etc. The same thing recently occurred with a 3rd generation private insurance agency. The family wanted to monetize their generational investment and they were acquired by a large national firm. Better systems, more leverage with insurers, professional management, etc. It’s a process the clock turns, and the cycle resets.

Change is constant so I focus on learning how to adapt, enjoying the improvements and save time. I long ago gave up carbon paper, telex's, fax’s, paper receipts, hardwired telephones, and now embrace touch-less financial transactions. Rather we increasingly have direct contact with insurance, and investment firms via ZOOM, Teams and other platforms which is the new normal since COVID.

In addition, artificial intelligence (AI) tools continue to transform most financial sectors to include insurance, investing and banking. I suggest we all consider becoming conversant with ChatGBT, CoPilot and other more specialized tools to help inform and make decisions.

Same here. My first bank in the 70s when I got my first job has merged 5 times and now I’m a Chase Bank customer. I never changed my account. Not particularly impressed with Chase but glad there is one or more in TV.

For those not buying with cash…When buying a NEW home The Villages requires your mortgage company to close within the 30 day guideline. Otherwise you could lose the house and get fees applied. Wonder if the new bank will be able meet that expectation. Citizens guaranteed it would close within 30 days.

Am I not clear in my words? Are people having difficulty understanding me because I'm writing poorly? I'll try again:

NEW LAWS.

There are NEW LAWS that didn't exist as of a year ago.

These laws are new. They're recent. They're not from 1946, they're not from 1961, they're not from 2000, they're not from 2023. They're new.

If you've never changed your name, then my concern about these laws doesn't apply to you.

Interesting to see who is responding to this thread with a "hey they have the right to cash out" or "it's not surprising." Not just you, but everyone who seems to have this perception or attitude toward the news.

It's interesting, because the concern had come up in previous threads, about what would The Villages do if the Morse family decided they no longer wanted to run the place.

The response was incredibly aggressive toward people who questioned it, saying it wouldn't ever happen, the family is making millions so they'd never cash out, they're successful and love what they do and would never sell...

And here they are, selling off bits and pieces.

I guess those of us who actually thought to ask about it, were right to ask, and the ones who insisted it wouldn't happen, were - sucked in by the kool-aid and now the sugar high is starting to wear off.

Ya know, just go online to the county website in which you were wedded, and follow the FAQ that responds to the inquiry: "How do I get a copy of my marriage license?" There's no MBA required here, no degree in the science of rocketry, no Mensa membership either.

If it had been done long ago, this "emergency" because of NEW LAWS would not be an "emergency" which causes one such panic.

By the way, the law isn't really NEW. It was passed twenty years ago in 2005. Its many postponements have been publicized over the years as states invested in the technological infrastructure to make it happen. It's been a complete foreseeable eventuality for two decades, thus NOT an "emergency."

Some profit-taking before handing the reins to the next generation is normal and to be expected. Also to be expected is a business to divest itself of assets that were once part of their core focus. When momentum gain or growth is such that said assets distract from the core mission and vision, a smart business that wishes to endure sheds such assets as they lose their value (to the mission, no monetarily) and takes any equity gains from them.

What article was this in, I missed it?

Developing land is one thing; but hoodwinking and abusing elders is another thing altogether.