Fifth Third Bank

Fifth Third Bank specializes in small business, retail banking, investments, and mortgage. Fifth Third Bancorp (the Bancorp) is a diversified financial services company. As of December 31, 2011, the Bancorp had $117 billion in assets, operated 15 affiliates with 1,316 full-service Banking Centers, including 104 Bank Mart locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores, and 2,425 automated teller machines (ATMs) in 12 states throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern regions of the United States. 

The Bancorp operates in four business segments: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending and Investment Advisors. Bancorp also has a 49% interest in Vantiv Holding, LLC.

1858: On June 17, the Bank of the Ohio Valley opened in Cincinnati. Founded that year, the bank has grown through a flurry of mergers and acquisitions into the 16th largest in the United States with nearly $140 billion in assets.

1863: Rampant inflation during the Civil War, however, prompted the 1863 ratification of the Federal Banking Act, thereby creating a uniform, government-backed national currency to replace the diverse currencies issued by state banks and other firms.

1871: Third National Bank acquired The Bank of the Ohio Valley.

1873: Zions Bank became Utah’s first chartered savings and trust company.

1882: Third National’s capital was $16 million and is considered the largest bank capital in the state of Ohio.

1888: Queen City National Bank changed its name to Fifth National Bank.

1890: Union Savings Bank and Trust Company, organized, is also part of Fifth Third Bank’s family tree, led by Jacob G. Schmidlapp, a name that remains prominent in Cincinnati history and Fifth Third’s philanthropic efforts.

1901: Union Savings Bank and Trust President, Jacob G. Schmidlapp, worked with architect Daniel Burnham to erect the first skyscraper in Cincinnati and moved the bank to 36 East Fourth Street, now the Renaissance Hotel.

1904: That’s right, BofA was originally BofI, founded as the Bank of Italy in San Francisco by Amadeo Giannini to serve immigrants who were unwelcome at other banks (unless they were packing a mean cioppino).

1907: The Panic brought a run on banks and the first substantial banking and currency reform since the Civil War.

1908: On June 1, Third National Bank and Fifth National Bank merged to become the Fifth-Third National Bank of Cincinnati; the hyphen was later dropped. Jacob Schmidlapp established the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund.

1910: Fifth Third's acquisition of two other local banks--American National Bank and S. Kuhn & Sons--increased its capital to $3 million.

1919: Another bank industry consolidation followed World War I. The affiliation with Union Savings Bank and Trust Company, a state-chartered bank, brought several changes to Fifth Third's operations.

1927: Fifth Third consolidated with the Union Trust Company to form the Fifth Third Union Trust Company.

1929: The advent of the Great Depression intensified this activity somewhat because Fifth Third was one of the stronger banks in the Cincinnati area.

1930: Giannini eventually acquired and merged with other banks to form Bank of America.

1935: On August 23, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Banking Act of 1935 which moves the “Fed” out of the Treasury Department and established it as an independent entity that could set reserve requirements and interest rates.

1943: In this year alone, the Bank issued over $90 million in War Bonds, with more than 60,000 bonds inscribed manually.

1948: At the end of the war, Fifth Third Union Trust created the Fifth Third Foundation—the first corporate foundation established by a financial institution in the United States.

1956: Fifth Third Union Trust had 27 offices, including branches located in shopping centres.

1965: The Cincinnati Redevelopment Corporation needed a substantial tenant to trigger downtown revitalization.

1969: Schaefer was trained in engineering, but when a hoped-for job designing a nuclear power plant fell through, he entered the bank's management trainee program. The building opened on Fountain Square, placing Fifth Third at the heart of the city.

1971: Fifth Third formed Midwest Payment Solutions (MPS) to provide Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) services to financial institutions.

1973: Fifth Third signed Johnny Bench, catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, as its sponsor and spokesperson, and also adopted “Working Hard to Be The Only Bank You’ll Ever Need” as its slogan.

1975: The creation of a bank holding company, Fifth Third Bancorp, enabled the institution to sidestep some of the most rigorous state banking regulations.

1976: Fifth Third included 37 banking offices.

1977: Then, Fifth Third launched JEANIE®, forever transforming banking convenience. (MPS became Vantiv and are now Worldpay.)

1981: Much of this vigorous growth was inspired by a new corporate leader, Clement L. Buenger, who took the helm of Fifth Third.

1983: Fifth Third introduced its famous lapel pin, a cultural icon that continues to be a source of pride for employees today.

1989: George Schaefer, Jr., took Fifth Third's reins at the age of 44.

1991: Buenger, who was called 'one of the best acts in the business in a Fortune article, brought his background in life insurance sales to the bank.

1992: Fifth Third proposed a merger with Star Banc Corp. that would have unified the two largest Cincinnati-based financial institutions.

1994: Then, the bank made two significant purchases: the 45-office Cumberland Federal Bancorporation in Kentucky, which had $1.1 billion in assets; and Falls Financial Inc. in northeastern Ohio, a company with $581 million in assets. According to the company's annual report, these two acquisitions contributed to the largest one-year increase in assets--22 percent--in the institution's history.

1995: Other acquisitions of Fifth Third included Mutual Federal Savings Bank in Dayton, Ohio; Bank One Lebanon; PNC Bank's Dayton division; and seven offices of Bank One, Cincinnati.

1996: Fifth Third made three acquisitions: the Ohio branch of 1st Nationwide Bank, the Ohio operations of First Chicago NBD Bank, and Kentucky Enterprise Bancorp, Inc., located in northern Kentucky.

1997: Fifth Third also acquired Heartland Capital Management Inc., a money managing company in Indiana, and Great Lakes National Bank Ohio, with eight branches in Ohio.

1998: To start out, Fifth Third announced it would acquire CitFed Bancorp Inc. of Dayton and its subsidiary Citizens Federal Bank FSB for $661 million in stock. Fifth Third celebrated its 25th consecutive year of increased revenues at the end of the year and increased the number of its branches from 35 to 468. Total Assets: $38 billion (1998)

1999: In mid-year Fifth Third made its largest acquisition to date when it announced it would purchase CNB Bancshares Inc., the biggest independent bank holding company in Indiana. Fifth Third's net income for the first half of the year was up 21 percent compared to the same period a year earlier. Fifth Third received the top ranking from Salomon Smith Barney in its Top 50 Bank Annual for the eighth consecutive year. Fifth Third had 384 banking centres in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky and debuted on the Fortune 500 list.

2000: With more than 19 000 employees and over 1 100 branches, Fifth Third Bancorp is considered one of the World’s Best Banks and one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world, according to Forbes.

2001: In May, Fifth Third announced its plans to take over Chicago-based MB Financial for $4.7 billion, its largest acquisition since 2001 and second-largest ever.

2005: Fifth Third’s commitment to financial empowerment took hold in 2005 with the launch of its Lives Improved Through Financial Empowerment® (LIFE) suite of programs including the Young Bankers Club® and the Fifth Third Financial Empowerment Mobiles, called eBuses.

2008: While Fifth Third wrote off more than $11 billion worth of loans in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, defaults have slowed to a trickle of less than half of 1 percent of the loan portfolio in the latest quarter.

2018: On September 6, a gunman named Omar Enrique Santa-Perez entered the lobby area of the company headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, shooting and killing three people and wounding two others before being shot and killed by the Cincinnati Police.

2019: The deal, which isn't expected to close until 2019, will give Fifth Third 91 branches and more than $14 billion in deposits in Chicago, making it the Windy City's No.

2020: On March 9, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a lawsuit against the bank for allegedly opening unauthorized accounts and enrolling consumers in unauthorized products and services. For the year 2020 Fifth Third originated nearly 56,000 mortgages with a value of $10.6 billion.

2021: Bankrate, LLC. A Red Ventures company.

2022: In January, Fifth Third announced it had acquired the San Francisco-based residential solar power lender, Dividend Finance. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of March 31, had $549 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $61 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses.

To responsibly empower underserved individuals, families and communities through the delivery of responsible and innovative financial solutions, leading to financially healthy people and sustainable communities.

Our Vision is to be the One Bank people most value and trust. Our Vision guides our actions; it is why we do what we do. It sits at the top of our Compass and points to the north.