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The story
Pre-merger (1858-1908)
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.
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. The name went through several changes—the most recent being Fifth Third Union Trust Company—until March 24, 1969, when it was changed to Fifth Third Bank.
Post-merger and current day operations
In 1999, the bank acquired Emerald Financial for $204 million.
On August 16, 2007, Fifth Third Bank announced its purchase of First Charter Bank of North Carolina.
In November 2008, the United States Department of the Treasury invested $3.4 billion in the company as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and in February 2011, the company repurchased the investment from the Treasury.
The next year, Fifth Third completed the corporate spin-off of Fifth Third Processing Solutions, which was acquired by Worldpay, Inc. in 2012.
In May 2018, Fifth Third acquired MB Financial in a $4.7 billion transaction.
In August 2020, the bank partnered with Trust & Will.
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Two years later, Fifth Third acquired Dividend Finance, a San Francisco–based residential solar power lender. By May 2023, the bank acquired Rize Money. The same month, the bank acquired Big Data Healthcare.
In 2025, Fifth Third was ranked as offering the best mobile banking app experience in a J.D. Power survey.
In June 2026, Fifth Third moved its listing from Nasdaq to the New York Stock Exchange. The bank’s common stock retained its ticker symbol, FITB.
Merger with Comerica Bank
On October 6, 2025, Fifth Third announced that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire Comerica Bank for $10.9 billion. If approved by regulators, the all-stock deal is expected to close in March 2026; existing Fifth Third shareholders would own about 73% of the combined company, and existing Comerica shareholders would own about 27%. The combined entity would be the ninth-largest bank in the United States, and is reportedly expected to phase out the Comerica brand by 2027.
In December 2025, Crain's Detroit Business reported that 30 Fifth Third locations, primarily in Michigan, are expected to close in 2026 if the acquisition is completed.
On February 1, 2026, Fifth Third and Comerica Bank merged and created the ninth-largest U.S. Bank with about $294 billion in assets. Fifth Third will now operate in 17 of the 20 fastest-growing large markets in the country, including key regions in the Southeast, Texas and California, while solidifying its leadership in the Midwest, the company said in a news release.
It was announced in June 2026 that the company finalized its list of Michigan branch closures, confirming that 75 locations would shut down by September; of those closing, 55 locations were formerly of Comerica Bank. After the closures, 227 branches will still be in operation.
From Wikipedia’s article on Fifth Third Bank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5