SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549



                                    FORM 8-K



                                 CURRENT REPORT

                     Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
                         Securities Exchange Act of 1934




        Report Date (Date of earliest event reported) September 14, 2000

                        FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES, INC.
___________________________________________________________________
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)



     Delaware_____         0-16471_____          56-1528994_________
 (State or other       (Commission File         (IRS Employer
 jurisdiction of           Number)           Identification No.)
  incorporation)



             239 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      (Address of principal executive offices)

                                 (919) 716-7000
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               Registrant's telephone number, including area code



                                      N/A
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)


ITEM 5.  OTHER EVENTS

     First-Citizens  Bank & Trust Company,  a  wholly-owned  subsidiary of First
Citizens  BancShares,  Inc.,  has  completed  the sale of a large portion of its
mortgage servicing portfolio.
     The  transaction  is  described  in the  attached  news  release,  which is
incorporated herein by reference.




                                   SIGNATURES


     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

                         FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES, INC.



                             By: /s/Kenneth A. Black
                             -----------------------
                             Kenneth A. Black
                             Vice President, Treasurer
                             Chief Financial Officer


Date:  September 14, 2000





Sept. 14, 2000                                              First Citizens Bank
                                                                 (919) 716-2716


FIRST CITIZENS COMPLETEs MORTGAGE SERVICING TRANSACTION

RALEIGH, N.C. - First Citizens Bank has completed the sale of a large portion of
its mortgage servicing business to GMAC Mortgage Corp.

The bank  transferred  the  servicing  rights for about $1.6 billion in mortgage
loans so it could focus  resources on developing and marketing  better  mortgage
products. First Citizens will continue to originate mortgage loans.

First  Citizens  expects to realize a gain of about $13 million from the sale of
servicing rights to GMAC.

As the new  servicer  for the loans,  GMAC will  receive  and  process  customer
payments,  manage escrow accounts and respond to inquiries regarding  mortgages.
The transfer of servicing rights for mortgage loans is standard  practice in the
industry and does not affect the terms or conditions of mortgages.

"We  constantly  evaluate our  operations  to identify  areas where we can offer
better products and services more  efficiently,  and this transfer will allow us
to enhance the quality of our mortgage  lineup," said Terry Lindsey,  group vice
president with First Citizens' Mortgage Division. "We selected GMAC because they
can uphold our high standards for customer service. We expect that our customers
will be very pleased with the way they do business."

The  mortgage  loans  involved  in the  servicing  transfer to GMAC are owned by
institutional  investors.  First Citizens is also outsourcing servicing for $688
million in mortgage  loans held in its own portfolio to Cenlar Corp. The company
plans to outsource servicing for all future mortgage originations.

First  Citizens  Bank has 366  branches  in more than 200  communities  in North
Carolina,  Virginia and West Virginia.  Headquartered  in Raleigh,  the bank has
$9.98  billion in assets.  First  Citizens is committed  to  providing  superior
financial  services to individual  customers and small to mid-sized  businesses.
For more information on the bank, visit its website at firstcitizens.com.