Atlanta Internet Bank Signs Up A Servantis Veteran as CEO

Atlanta Internet Bank has hired D.R. Grimes, formerly of Servantis Systems Inc., as chief executive officer.

"The bank is growing so quickly it became impossible for a single individual to both manage the day-to-day operations and focus on the bank's future growth strategy," said Donald S. Shapleigh Jr., who remains president and chief operating officer.

The bank is affiliated with Carolina First Bank of Greenville, S.C. It expects to go public by the end of April. Since its launch on the Internet in November, the bank has attracted $5 million in deposits from 1,400 accounts, said Mr. Grimes, who started last month.

Before his 18 years at Servantis, Mr. Grimes was manager of computer systems and programming for SunTrust Banks in Georgia.

He left SunTrust to work at Stockholder Systems Inc., the predecessor of Servantis, a leading bank software company, which was sold last year to Checkfree Corp.

Launched about a year after Security First Network Bank opened on the World Wide Web, Atlanta Internet Bank will go aggressively after deposits, its officials said.

"They are a software company trying to sell Internet banking software," Mr. Shapleigh said of Security First, also based in Atlanta. "We are trying to get customers, and that is what we live, breathe, and eat."

"I wouldn't mind 300,000 to 400,000 more customers, but we are getting recognition," said Mr. Grimes.

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