Fifth Third Bank may be new to Wilmington, but it has a long history in the Midwest and ranks 21st on the list of the nation’s largest banks.

With its new branch at 5201 College Road, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank is entering the Wilmington market. Although it's open for business now, a ribbon cutting on Dec. 4 will officially launch the branch.
 
Since the 1990s, Fifth Third has expanded into neighboring states and headed south, establishing branches in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The bank’s southern strategy identifies opportunities to invest in growing markets. Often that means the bank is following its customers as they relocate to warmer climes, said Thomas Lloyd, Fifth Third’s Carolinas Retail Executive, in an interview last week.
 
“We are finding that in most of the places we’re moving to, we’re running into folks who have moved there from the Midwest,” he said.
 
Under Lloyd’s leadership, Fifth Third has opened 54 locations in the Carolinas. The bank (whose name derives from the 1908 merger of Cincinnati’s Third National Bank and Fifth National Bank) entered North Carolina in 2008 through an acquisition and has since served customers in the Charlotte and Triangle markets, gradually expanding into high-growth Carolinas markets. Unlike many banks that have slimmed down their branch presence as customers do more banking online or through mobile devices, Fifth Third’s model is firmly anchored in its branch networks.
 
Despite more customers’ reliance on banking remotely, and increasingly sophisticated technology to help them, Fifth Third wants to maintain personal connections to address customer needs, Lee Fite, the bank's regional president, said in last week’s interview.
 
“We can offer solutions to customers 24/7,” Fite said. “People want relationships, and that’s one of our core values: being relationship-centered. We have the same number of people who come into our branches as we did pre-COVID.”
 
It’s a matter, Fite and Lloyd said, of providing a high level of service while giving customers what they termed “terrific technology.” This blend of traditional and new approaches to banking is reflected in the design of Fifth Third’s branch interiors, Lloyd said.
 
“All our branches are designed based on feedback from customers, who told us traditional banks felt stuffy and intimidating,” he said. “Our next-gen locations are filled with light, with some transaction areas, but with a team of bankers and a manager who are completely mobile.”
 
Instead of a teller line, Fifth Third locations have a transaction bar within their open-concept layout that allows customers to use their preferred technology or speak directly with a tablet-equipped team member for advice or talk about a mortgage or other type of loan.
 
Heading up the Wilmington market is Michael Teer Jr., whose career has included previous local leadership positions with Wells Fargo and, before that, with TD Bank. He joined Fifth Third recently as the Wilmington market’s senior vice president and middle market relationship manager and is currently working with commercial clients.
 
Does Fifth Third Bank have plans to grow its footprint in the area? Lloyd and Fite were not specific but said the bank is scouting possible future branch locations, which are a “big part” of its growth plans.
 
“When we look at the demographics of North Carolina and South Carolina, you see more business investment occurring [there] and people relocating to this area than in other parts of the country,” Fite said. “We will continue to invest and support that. If there is an opportunity to invest, grow, and make an impact, that’s what we will do.”
 
Despite its rapid recent growth in the Carolinas, Fifth Third is very deliberate about where it plants its flag, according to Lloyd.
 
“We’re not going to put a single branch in a city just to say we have a presence there,” he said. “We make a commitment to the community.”