EXHIBIT 23

                         CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS



The Board of Directors
Coastal Financial Corporation:

We consent to  incorporation  by  reference  in  previously  filed  registration
statements on Form S-8 of Coastal  Financial  Corporation and subsidiaries  (the
"Company")  of our report dated October 30, 1998,  relating to the  consolidated
statements  of financial  condition of the Company as of September  30, 1998 and
1997,  and the related  consolidated  statements  of  operations,  stockholders'
equity,  and cash  flows for each of the years in the  three-year  period  ended
September  30, 1998,  which report  appears in the  September  30, 1998,  annual
report on Form 10-K of the Company.


Greenville, South Carolina
December 23, 1998