INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' CONSENT



The Board of Directors
United Carolina Bancshares Corporation


We consent to incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement (No.
333-08465) on Form S-8 of United Carolina Bancshares Corporation (the
"Corporation") relating to the United Carolina Bancshares Corporation Dollar
Plus Savings Plan and Trust, the Registration Statement (No. 33-61184) on Form
S-8 of the Corporation relating to the United Carolina Bancshares Corporation
Key Employee Stock Option Plan, the Registration Statement (No. 33-85250) on
Form S-8 of the Corporation relating to the 1987 Employee Non-Qualified Stock
Option Program, the Registration Statement (No. 33-85640) on Form S-8 of the
Corporation relating to the United Carolina Bancshares Corporation Long Term
Incentive Plan, the Registration Statement (No. 333-09253) on Form S-8 of the
Corporation relating to the United Carolina Bancshares Corporation Stock Option
and Incentive Award Program, the Registration Statement (No. 333-02225) on Form
S-8 of the Corporation relating to the 1993 Nonstatutory Stock Option Plan for
Directors, the Registration Statement (No. 333-02227) on Form S-8 of the
Corporation related to the 1993 Incentive Stock Option Plan, the Registration
Statement (No. 333-02957) on Form S-8 of the Corporation related to the
Employee's Stock Option Plan, and in the Registration Statement (No. 333-02955)
on Form S-8 of the Corporation related to the Stock Option Policy for
Non-Employee Directors, of our report dated February 21, 1997, relating to the
consolidated balance sheets of United Carolina Bancshares Corporation and
subsidiaries as of December 31, 1996 and 1995, and the related consolidated
statements of income, stockholders' 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 Corporation. Our report
dated February 21, 1997, refers to the fact that on January 1, 1994, the
Corporation adopted the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 112, "Employers' Accounting for
Postemployment Benefits".




                                                        KPMG Peat Marwick LLP
Raleigh, North Carolina
March 17, 1997