September 10, 2002

AUSTIN — IronStone Bank President Jay Parker announced today the bank's Austin management team.

"These experienced bankers know the Austin market and understand the importance of building long-term customer relationships," Parker said. "They will deliver the highest level of service that will be the hallmark of our bank."

IronStone Bank will open its first branch at 11149 Research Blvd. on Sept. 23. It will also open its Austin main office in the historic Tips Building at 710 Congress Ave. and a drive-through motor bank at 814 San Jacinto Blvd. later this fall.

Parker said his team is ready to provide IronStone Bank's brand of financial services to individual customers, small to mid-sized businesses, professionals and medical providers.

Fred White is the area executive and will oversee IronStone Bank operations in the Austin market. He has 40 years of banking experience, most recently having managed the Small Business Administration loan and commercial loan closing departments of another bank in Austin. He attended Odessa College and the University of Texas, Texas Savings and Loan Executive Development School (1972). He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1958 to 1962. He is on the advisory board of the YMCA Northwest Branch.

Mary Garza is the Austin market executive. A senior vice president, her duties include retail operations and managing the local branch network. Garza has 20 years of banking experience in the Austin community. Her leadership positions included directing a group of retail banking centers, managing executive and professional lending and heading up special financial services projects. She is a certified public accountant and a member of the Texas Society of CPAs. She has served as a board member of the Austin Partners in Education and the Urban League Community Loan Review Board. She was also a vice president and board member of the CEDEN Family Resource Center (Any Baby Can).

Garza graduated from the University of Houston (1975) with a bachelor's degree in accounting. She received her MBA in finance from the University of Texas at Austin (1982).

Robin Ingari serves as commercial and business banking manager. Her responsibilities are providing financial services to businesses, professionals and healthcare providers. A senior vice president, she will manage IronStone Bank's Austin commercial and business lending teams.

Ingari has 21 years of banking experience in the Austin area with a background in high technology, commercial lending and credit administration. She currently serves as a board member/treasurer for the Austin Theater Alliance and the Austin Women Technology Alliance. She is also a board member of the Austin Risk Managers Association (RMA).

Ingari graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's degree (1980) and an MBA (1982) with a concentration in management and finance. She currently serves on the University of Texas College of Business scholarship committee.

Rick Holland is the bank's regional commercial/business executive. A senior vice president, he will coordinate commercial and business lending in all of IronStone Bank's markets. His responsibilities include credit approvals, training and business development.

Holland has 25 years of various lending and credit management positions. He most recently served as president and chief operating officer of a technology company that offered Internet financial services to community banking institutions, independent broker/dealers and credit unions. He also worked from 1993 to 2000 for First Citizens Bank in North Carolina as an area executive and regional vice president for the bank's agribusiness group. First Citizens Bank is a major subsidiary of IronStone Bank's parent company, First Citizens BancShares. He received his bachelor's degree from East Carolina University (1975). He has previous associations with the Rotary and Lions clubs.

Debra Wilkerson is IronStone Bank's human resources manager. Her duties include recruiting, training, employee relations and compensation. The senior vice president has more than 20 years of banking experience and most recently she was human resource manager for Atlantic States Bank's Georgia region. IronStone Bank is a division of Atlantic States Bank. The Texas native is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management. She has a bachelor's degree in finance from Columbia Pacific University (1986). While in Georgia, she worked extensively with the Gwinnett County United Way.

Joel Cavness serves as a business banker. A vice president, he has 11 years of banking experience in Austin in commercial lending, business development, private banking and as a branch manager. He serves as a board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas. He received a bachelor's degree (1991) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Robin Thigpin is a commercial banker and vice president with more than 23 years of banking experience, with five in Austin, in commercial and real estate lending and financial advising. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin (1978). She is a member of the Junior League of Austin, the Forest Trail Booster Club and the Westlake Chap Club.

Patti Colvin is the financial services manager for the Balcones branch in Austin. A vice president, her responsibilities include business development, small business lending and managing the daily operations of the branch. The Texas native has 18 years of local banking experience.

In addition to its Austin locations, IronStone Bank will open an office in Scottsdale, Ariz., this fall and is seeking regulatory approval to open in the La Jolla community of San Diego in early 2003. IronStone Bank is a division of Atlantic States Bank, a federal savings bank with 41 offices in Georgia and Florida. Atlantic States is a subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares (Nasdaq: FCNCA), an $11.86 billion financial holding company based in Raleigh, N.C.

For more information, contact:
Barbara Thompson
(919) 716-2716
First Citizens BancShares