First Citizens has transformed a storefront in Main Street’s 143-year-old Brennan Building into an innovative coffee shop bank known as First Citizens Café. Opened in mid-August, the café offers a place where the public can enjoy a locally roasted brew and free Wi-Fi as well as professional banking assistance.
Customers can open checking accounts or apply for credit cards with help from an in-shop banker. Deposits can be made at an ATM that takes checks or currency deposits without an envelope or deposit slip, scans items and totals the deposits on-screen, then credits the deposits immediately to the customer’s account. Personal consultations can be made in the private conference room with a financial barista and a customer experience manager, both of whom are knowledgeable of the bank’s products and services.
The café is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Peter Bristow, president of First Citizens, plans to keep the shop and a large adjacent courtyard busy with events.
With the help of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, First Citizens carefully renovated the Brennan building, which was built around 1870. To honor the building’s ties to the Columbia community, local coffee roaster Turtle Creek supplies the coffee and downtown restaurant Crepes & Croissants provides the pastries. So now First Citizens not only provides Columbia with reliable banking but delectable treats as well.
