INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT
                         -----------------------------


The  Board  of  Directors
Summit  Financial  Corporation


We  consent  to  incorporation  by reference in the registration statements on
Form  S-8  (No.  33-83538) Summit Financial Corporation Restricted Stock Plan,
(No.  33-94962)  Summit  Financial Corporation Incentive Stock Option Plan and
(No.  33-94964)  Summit  Financial  Corporation 1995 Non-Employee Stock Option
Plan  of  Summit  Financial  Corporation of our report dated January 20, 1997,
relating  to  the  consolidated balance sheets of Summit Financial Corporation
and  subsidiaries  (the  "Company")  as of December 31, 1996 and 1995, and the
related  consolidated statements of operations, shareholders' equity, and cash
flows  for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 1996,
which  report  appears  in the December 31, 1996 Annual Report on Form 10-K of
the  Company.



                                   /s/  KPMG  Peat  Marwick  LLP


Greenville,  South  Carolina                             KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
March  24,  1997