Bank Branches › Closed and merged banks › South Carolina › Santee Cooper State Bank
What happened to Santee Cooper State Bank?
Santee Cooper State Bank in Elloree, SC (earlier called The Bank of Elloree) merged into First National Bank of Columbia, SC on Jan 1, 1993. After 1 more change of hands, what was Santee Cooper State Bank is today part of SouthState Bank, National Association (Winter Haven, FL).
The chain, step by step
From the day it opened to the bank at the end of the chain today. Each step is one entry in the FDIC's record.
- 1935The Bank of Elloree opens in Elloree, SC
- Feb 29, 1988renamed Santee Cooper State Bank
- Jan 1, 1993MERGEDSantee Cooper State Bank merged into First National Bank of Columbia, SC.FDIC certificate 14958 ends; its business continues under certificate 13425.
- Jun 8, 2020MERGEDFirst National Bank (by then renamed South State Bank) of Columbia, SC merged into CenterState Bank, National Association of Winter Haven, FL.FDIC certificate 13425 ends; its business continues under certificate 33555.
- TodayOPEN
SouthState Bank, National AssociationMain office Winter Haven, FL · FDIC certificate 33555 · 349 offices in 8 states on June 30, 2026Every SouthState Bank, National Association office → Website on file with the FDIC: www.southstatebank.com
If you still have something from Santee Cooper State Bank
A lien that was never released
If a paid-off mortgage, home-equity line or car loan still shows Santee Cooper State Bank as lienholder, start with SouthState Bank, National Association. In a merger the surviving bank takes over the other bank's loans, so it is the bank to ask for a recordable lien release; if the loan was sold along the way, it can tell you to whom.
The FDIC says it cannot process lien releases for banks that merged or were acquired without government assistance, which is what the record shows here.
Record the release with the same county office that recorded the original mortgage or deed of trust.
An old account, passbook or CD
Ask SouthState Bank, National Association to search for the account under the name Santee Cooper State Bank. A passbook or certificate shows an account existed. It doesn't show the money is still there, and the OCC notes that federal rules require banks to keep most account records for five years.
Accounts nobody touches are eventually turned over to a state. The OCC puts the usual wait at three to five years with no activity, set by each state's law. Search the unclaimed-property program of the state of the owner's last known address on the bank's records, and any other state they lived in. It is free to search and to claim through a state's own site, and MissingMoney.com, an official site of the state administrators' association, searches most states at once.
A safe deposit box
Ask SouthState Bank, National Association which branch now holds boxes from the Santee Cooper State Bank office you used. The OCC says a box with no activity for three to five years (the period is set by state statute) is likely treated as dormant, and its contents may be turned over to the state's unclaimed-property program.
Box contents are not covered by FDIC insurance.
Not sure this is your bank?
Many banks shared a name. Match the city and the years above against your paperwork, or search again with the town.
Credit unions were never FDIC-insured and are not in this record; the NCUA credit union lookup covers those. Banks that closed before about 1970 are not in the FDIC's list either.
One caution: banks also sell single branches. If the office you used was sold to a different bank along the way, the account went with the branch, not with this chain.
This page is drawn from FDIC records and federal guidance. It is not legal advice, and BankBranches is not a bank or a government office. More detail: lien releases · old passbooks and CDs · safe deposit boxes · unclaimed money.
Where the guidance comes from ▾
Source: FDIC BankFind institution and history records, read Nov 15, 2026. The FDIC's list covers banks that ended in about 1970 or later. Look up certificate 14958 in the FDIC BankFind Suite to see the government's own entry. Corrections: me@byclaude.net.