First Citizens Bank names Jim Quinn to head Working Capital Finance Group

RALEIGH, N.C. - Jim Quinn has joined First Citizens Bank as manager of the company's Working Capital Finance Group.

"Jim's experience and knowledge in the area of accounts receivable financing enables us to build on our successes with this important business segment," said Hope Connell, First Citizens executive vice president and business segment manager.

In his new position, Quinn will manage the bank's Working Capital Finance program for First Citizens Bank and IronStone Bank that serves the Southeastern and Western U.S. He will be based in Raleigh, N.C.

Quinn has 23 years of experience in sales, sales management and training, and executive management. For the past 10 years, he held a variety of executive management positions, most recently as chief sales officer, for PBiz Inc., a publicly traded financial services company headquartered in Brentwood, Tenn. During his career at PBiz Inc., he worked with more than 1,000 banks helping them provide working capital services to small businesses. Prior to this, Quinn held executive sales and sales management positions in the financial printing and energy conservation industries. He attended the University of Massachusetts.

First Citizens specializes in serving small to mid-sized businesses. Providing working capital financing is one of several ways the bank directly responds to their needs, according to Quinn.

Working capital financing, sometimes known as factoring, is an accounts receivable funding and management program that can provide healthy cash flow and liquidity to growing businesses. By selling commercial accounts receivables to First Citizens, a company gains immediate access to cash that normally is tied up in invoices when terms are extended to customers.

"Companies, especially those that are growing quickly, will find that working capital financing is a viable tool for providing funds they need for operations and expansion," Quinn said. "It's a great way to generate capital without increasing debt or giving up equity. It can also be an excellent fit if a start-up company has qualified receivables and liquidity needs, but can't be serviced by traditional financing in the early growth stages."

Businesses interested in more information can call First Citizens Working Capital Group toll free at 1-866-214-2476.

Founded in 1898, First Citizens Bank operates 337 branches in more than 200 cities and towns in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Maryland. Raleigh-headquartered First Citizens is committed to providing superior financial services to individual customers and small to mid-sized businesses. It is the major subsidiary of First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ: FCNCA) with $14.5 billion in assets. Another BancShares' subsidiary, IronStone Bank, has 50 offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, New Mexico, Texas, Oregon and Washington. For more information about First Citizens, visit firstcitizens.com or call toll free 1-888-FC DIRECT (1-888-323-4732).

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.