HeritageBank officially becomes Renasant Bank

ALBANY — After months of preparation and planning, HeritageBank of the South has officially become Renasant Bank following the finalization of the merger between the two community banks on Wednesday.

The merger between Renasant Corporation and Heritage Financial Group Inc., the parent groups of the two banks, received necessary federal approval from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in March and since that time the two institution had been moving toward the July 1 merger date.

Customers of HeritageBank, which was headquartered in Albany, have been informed about the change since the merger was announced in late 2014, but the reality of the transition was evident to those customers who ventured into certain Albany locations on Wednesday and saw the new Renasant Bank signs.

The addition of the temporary signs, which are expected to be completed throughout the Heritage footprint by July 6, are merely the visual component of marriage of the two companies, with the conversion of the bank’s systems coming on August 24.

Until that time customers have been told that its business at usual in terms of having access to funds, bankers, and bank services.

“We’ll be working very diligently between now and the end of August to make sure that we have all of the issues that can crop up with a conversion, discussed and vetted and solutions to any issues that may arise handled so that when we convert officially on Aug. 24, our customers experience very little disruption in their banking with us,” said Len Dorminey, president of Renasant’s Georgia Region. “We are going to great lengths to make sure there’s minimal, if any, disruption to our customers.”

Dorminey added that with any significant change like a bank merger there will be issues that need to be addressed, but he felt those would be minimum.

In certain instances some customer account numbers might have to be changed for various reasons such as duplication with a Renasant customer account number or Heritage customers that were formerly AGE Credit Union customers whose account numbers are the same as their social security numbers.

Dorminey said any customer who is affected by that type of change will be notified prior to the August 24 conversion date and that the bank will work with them through the transition.

Other issues customers might run into are being addressed in a series of communications, many of which have already been sent to customers, including an extensive Frequently Asked Questions booklet and a conversion guide.

There will be some personal identification number changes but former Heritage customers will be able to continue using their Heritage Bank debit cards after the conversion, with those being replaced on an individual basis as those cards expire naturally.

Customers who use the company’s online banking platform will have to convert to the Renasant platform during the conversion but any bill pays set in the system will transfer automatically.

Small business customers who have been using the bank’s consumer online platform will be transferred over to a more robust commercial system.

Heritage customers can access any Renasant Bank branch ATM without incurring any fees.

More information about the impact of the merger can be found at www.renasantbank.com.

Dorminey stressed that the company anticipates everything will run smoothly and ultimately customers will be impressed by the way the new company operates.

“Both banks have a very similar culture and operate the very much the same way,” said Dorminey.

He added that the new company will have combined assets of more than $7 billion, which will help serve both consumer and commercial customers.

“The combination of Heritage (and) Renasant puts us in a really unique banking position in the southeast,” said Dorminey. “There are approximately eight banks that operate in the Southeast with assets between $5-10 billion. Two of those banks are in Virginia, we’re not. Two are in North Carolina, we’re not, so that leaves four banks that operate in our five state footprint with between $5-10 billion. That positions us very uniquely to compete with the larger banks where we can offer all the products, and the services that you would expect.”

Dorminey referenced increased credit availability and more competitive technology and products as just a few thing the combined company can deliver while also striving to maintain its identity as a community bank with local decision making ability.

“We have all of that yet we still continue to operate like a community bank where the local markets, the local people will be in place making decisions for our local clients,” he said.