1st Financial Services, the parent company of Mountain 1st Bank & Trust Company, has announced the creation of a private banking division at the bank.

Mountain 1st Bank, which is headquartered in Hendersonville, North Carolina, serves retail customers in ten of the state’s counties and is developing a dedicated service for high net worth clients. The private banking division will be managed by Barbara Bridges.    

“We are pleased to capitalize on one of our primary strengths, a solid retail distribution system and an outstanding customer service culture, by expanding into a line of business that will appeal to large deposit customers in western North Carolina,” said chief executive Michael Mayer.