(Bloomberg) -- First Citizens BancShares Inc., the regional lender that acquired Silicon Valley Bank when it failed in March, said deposits beat estimates helped by growth in its direct bank channel.

Deposits totaled $146.2 billion in the third quarter, surpassing analysts estimates and dwarfing the $87.6 billion for the same period a year ago, the bank said in a statement. Net interest income also increased to $1.99 billion compared with $795 million from a year prior as it reaped benefits from the Silicon Valley Bank acquisition and higher earning asset balances, it said.

First Citizens’ deal for Silicon Valley Bank transformed it into one of the top 15 US banks. The tech-friendly lender unraveled in less than 48 hours when a proposal to shore up capital failed and a run on deposits forced it to take losses on sales of securities that had lost value as interest rates climbed. For its part, First Citizens already had experience buying broken rivals. It acquired more than 20 Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-assisted banks since 2009, striking a series of deals after the financial crisis from Washington to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania.

“We continue to increase awareness that SVB is open for business and that we remain dedicated to supporting the innovation economy,” Chief Executive Officer Frank B Holding said in the statement. “We remain focused on managing credit risk prudently and our capital and liquidity positions remained solid due to strong earnings performance and our continued focus on core deposit gathering.”

Across the country, regional banks are grappling with the impacts of higher interest rates. Customers have increasingly plowed their cash into higher-yielding offerings, leading some banks to offer higher rates to keep those savers even if it erodes earnings. First Citizens also had to pay up: The cost of average total deposits was 2.12% in the third quarter compared to 0.35% for the same period a year ago, it said. 

Read more: Billionaire Family Expands First Citizens With Failed Banks (1)

Now operating as a unit of First Citizens, Silicon Valley Bank is looking to win back over clients and reassert itself as a go-to financial partner for startups and venture capital funds. 

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