With its roots in Ohio, Fifth Third Bank is among the 20 largest banks in the US. It features a variety of personal and business banking products, including specialty accounts for kids and military families. Some of its accounts have monthly service fees, but most have reasonable fee waivers. But if you’re after a high-yield savings account, look somewhere else. The majority of its savings and CD accounts have a low 0.01% APY, and exact rates can vary by location. Its highest APY comes with a promotional CD term, offering up to 5.15% APY for seven months, but it requires a high opening deposit of $5,000.
Best for: Those who live on the East Coast and prefer traditional banking.
On July 9, 2024, Fifth Third Bank entered into a settlement agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and agreed to pay a total of $20 million in penalties. Between July 2011 and December 2020, Fifth Third was illegally triggering vehicle repossessions, and charging illegal fees by requiring borrowers to obtain duplicative auto coverage policies in over 37,000 instances, as reported by the CFPB. For the issues around duplicate coverage, Fifth Third agreed to pay a $5 million penalty. The other $15 million is from Fifth Third employees opening fake accounts in the names of its customers.
In addition to the penalties, the court banned Fifth Third from setting employee sales goals that would encourage employees to open fake accounts. Fifth Third is also working with the CFPB supervisory arm for remediation plans to assist customers who were impacted. The bank put out a press release and stated, “We are pleased to put these historical matters behind us so we can continue to focus on creating sustainable long-term value for our shareholders, customers, employees and in our communities.”
If you like branch access and want variety in personal checking options, Fifth Third is worth checking out. It has no-frill bank accounts with reasonable monthly service fees (most of which can be waived) and free checking options. Its account fees, perks and disclosure are also transparent. It has more than 1,200 branch locations in 11 states on the East Coast: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
If you want the ability to open accounts online or branch access on the West side of the US, this probably isn’t the bank for you. Most of Fifth Third’s accounts require you to schedule an appointment to open, and some require visiting a physical branch.
Fifth Third Bank has multiple personal checking and savings accounts, as well as business accounts, CDs, a money market account, education savings, health savings accounts and more. If you want variety, you’re looking at the right bank. It’s also among the 20 biggest banks in the US based on asset size, holding over $200 billion in assets.
If you like traditional banking and you’re on the East Coast, this might be the bank for you:
If you’re looking for high APYs on savings, look elsewhere:
There are six personal checking accounts to choose from, with no opening deposit requirements or balance requirements. But four require you to schedule an appointment to apply, and you may need to visit a branch.
Fifth Third offers two main personal savings accounts, but the APYs are not great — or even average.
Fifth Third Bank’s money market account earns interest and has checkwriting privileges but doesn’t have a debit card. The APY is low, around 0.01% APY, but the rate can vary based on your zip code.
Fifth Third Bank’s money market account has a low $5 monthly service fee, but you can waive it in multiple ways:
Fifth Third Bank offers certificates of deposit (CDs), which are locked deposit accounts designed to save and earn interest over its term. Like all other CDs, these deposit accounts have no monthly fees. However, you must open a CD at a branch location.
| Term | APY | Minimum opening deposit |
|---|---|---|
7 to 89 days | 0.01% | $5,000 |
3 to 6 months | 0.01% | $500 |
7 months (promotional) | 5.15% | $5,000 |
6 to 12 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
12 months (promotional) | 4.5% | $5,000 |
12 to 24 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
24 months (promotional) | 4% | $5,000 |
24 to 36 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
36 to 48 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
48 to 60 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
60 to 84 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
84 months | 0.01% | $5,000 |
Fifth Third also features health savings accounts, business banking and more.
Compare other top banking checking, savings and CDs to Fifth Third.
The Finder Score crunches over 250 savings accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees, opening deposit and features - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of savings accounts against FDIC-reported national averages as a baseline. Accounts with rates well over the national average are scored the highest, while accounts with rates well below are scored low.
The Finder Score crunches over 300 checking accounts from hundreds of financial institutions. It takes into account the product's monthly fees, overdraft fees, opening deposit, customer support options, ATM network and features — this gives you a simple score out of 10.
To provide a Score, Finder’s banking experts analyze hundreds of checking accounts against what we consider is the best option: no monthly fees, no overdraft fees, a large ATM network of 50,000 or more, additional features outside of typical banking services, and the optional perk of earning interest. Accounts that are nearly free to maintain and use are scored the highest, while accounts with costly fees and few features are scored the lowest.
The Finder Score analyzes hundreds of CDs from more than 100 institutions. It takes into account the product's interest rate for available terms and opening deposit requirements - this gives you a simple score out of 10.
Different banks and credit unions offer CDs for various lengths of time, ranging from as short as seven days to as long as 20 years. For our ratings, we consider the term lengths that the FDIC uses in its monthly updates on national rates.
If a bank or credit union doesn’t offer a CD for a specific term used by the FDIC, we don’t penalize it: Instead, we simply don’t rate it. Each of the standard term lengths has its own APY rating based on the FDIC’s average rates.
Fifth Third Bank has a mixed bag of customer reviews. It’s accredited and holds the highest rating of A+ with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has had around 1,500 customer complaints in the last few years, but for banks of its size, that’s not uncommon. On Trustpilot, it has a 1.3-star rating with over a few hundred reviews, but again, it is not rare to see banks with poor ratings, as most people tend to leave bank reviews only if they’ve had an unpleasant experience.
Most reviews cite typical banking issues, such as difficulties contacting customer support, attempts to resolve fraudulent charges and frustrations with locked accounts or hold deposit times. On Reddit, complaints are similar, with customers claiming that Fifth Third Bank’s customer service is poor and claiming struggles resolving issues with large deposits or fraudulent charges. Others complain about the monthly service charges and that they have to watch their average balance to waive the fees.
The recent CFPB settlement and $20 million in penalties doesn’t exactly aid in the creation of a positive reputation, either. However, it’s worth noting that the fines for illegal sales practices were between 2010 and 2016, and the duplicate insurance coverage and repossessions were from 2011 to 2020. These instances aren’t super recent, but it still wasn’t all that long ago.
If Fifth Third isn’t the bank for you, or you’re not on the East Coast to access physical branches, here are some alternatives to check out:
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