On June 17, 1858, the Bank of the Ohio Valley, founded by William W. Scarborough, opened in Cincinnati, Ohio. On June 23, 1863, the Third National Bank was organized. On April 29, 1871, Third National Bank acquired Bank of the Ohio Valley. In 1888, Queen City National Bank changed its name to Fifth National Bank.[5]
Merger of Third National Bank and Fifth National Bank (1908)
On June 1, 1908, Third National Bank and Fifth National Bank merged to become the Fifth–Third National Bank of Cincinnati; the hyphen was later dropped. The merger took place when prohibitionist ideas were gaining popularity, and it is a legend that "Fifth Third" was better than "Third Fifth", which could have been construed as a reference to three fifths of alcohol.[6] The name went through several changes—the most recent being Fifth Third Union Trust Company[7]—until March 24, 1969, when it was changed to Fifth Third Bank.
Post-merger
The new atrium in the bank's headquarters.
In 1999, the bank acquired Emerald Financial for $204 million.[8]
In May 2022, Fifth Third acquired Dividend Finance, a San Francisco–based residential solar power lender.[14][15]
In May 2023, the bank acquired Rize Money.[16] Also in May 2023, the bank acquired Big Data Healthcare.[17]
In 2025, Fifth Third was ranked as offering the best mobile banking app experience in a J.D. Power survey.[18]
Lawsuits
In September 2015, the US Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an $18 million settlement to resolve allegations that Fifth Third Bank engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African–American and Hispanic borrowers in its indirect auto lending business.[19]
In December 2016, small business owners sued Fifth Third, along with Vantiv and National Processing Company, for violating telemarketing laws. On August 4, 2022, a $50 million settlement was finalized.[20]
On March 9, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) charged Fifth Third with illegal cross-selling; the suit was resolved in 2024 with the bank paying $20 million and taking remedial actions.[21] A class action suit was filed on behalf of former MB Financial shareholders, alleging that the cross-selling strategy artificially inflated Fifth Third's stock price and thus MB Financial's shareholders were not honestly compensated when the purchase occurred. The case was settled on September 14, 2023, with Fifth Third paying former MB Financial shareholders $5.5 million.[22]
On April 27, 2023, a jury ruled Fifth Third breached its Early Access loan program, but customers were not awarded damages because they had been fully informed of the terms. Fifth Third listed the APR estimate of 120%, the actual number was higher if the loan was paid off early due to the fee structure.[23]
On March 8, 2024, the Minnesota Attorney General filed suit against Fifth Third subsidiary Dividend Finance and three other lending companies (GoodLeap, Sunlight Financial, and Solar Mosaic), following an investigation that uncovered they charged Minnesotans $35 million in hidden fees on nearly 5,000 loans to finance sales of residential solar panels. The lawsuit alleges the lenders violated Minnesota state laws against deceptive trade practices, deceptive lending, and illegally high rates of interest.[24][25][26][27][28]
