Fifth Third Bank Review
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At a glance
Overview
Fifth Third Bank is not as big as the biggest banks with a national presence, and it’s not as competitive when it comes to rates and fees as the best online banks. But the bank offers checking accounts with no minimum balance requirements and no monthly service fees, which sets it apart from many big-bank competitors. Note that you can only open an account with Fifth Third Bank if you live in one of the eleven states where it has branches.
Highlights:
Highly Rated App Low Min DepositHighlights:
CDs
Checking
Savings
MMA
Offers featured here have been sponsored which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear. Not all offers are displayed on this page.
These are sponsored offers rated highly by us for competitive rates, fees, and minimums.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.2/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate Savings rating = 4.4/5
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Offers featured here have been sponsored which impacts how, where, and in what order the products appear. Not all offers are displayed on this page.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Bankrate scores are objectively determined by our editorial team. Our scoring formula weighs several factors consumers should consider when choosing financial products and services.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on a bank or investment account.
Overall
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifth Third Bank is a regional financial institution that offers its services to customers in 11 states, mostly in the midwest and south. In those areas though, it has more than 1,000 branches. It offers multiple checking and savings accounts, a money market account and a wide range of CD terms. And its customers seem to like its mobile app experiences — it gets stellar ratings for its app in both the Android and iOS app stores.
Pros
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Though its a regional bank, its branch network is substantial.
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No monthly service fee for its basic checking account, Momentum Checking.
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No minimum deposit requirements to open a checking or savings account.
Cons
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Account availability is limited to those living in the 11 states where it has branches.
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Low savings rates.
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Momentum Savings has a monthly fee (though it is avoidable).
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Fifth Third Bank banking products
Fifth Third Bank Momentum Savings overview
Pros
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You can link a Fifth Third checking account for free overdraft protection.
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No minimum balance to open.
Cons
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Extremely low APY.
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$5 monthly service fee, though it is avoidable.
Fifth Third Bank certificates of deposit overview
Pros
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Promotional CDs have elevated rates that are surprisingly high compared with other big banks.
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The minimum deposit for standard CDs with terms of three months and longer is just $500.
Cons
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Promotional CDs require a minimum deposit of $5,000.
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There are no alternative CD types such as no-penalty CDs or bump-up CDs.
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Early withdrawal penalties are not limited to the interest and can be as high as 3 percent of the amount withdrawn.
Fifth Third Bank Relationship Money Market overview
Pros
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The Fifth Third Relationship Money Market Savings Account offers check-writing privileges.
Cons
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Even the “relationship interest rate” that you get with a linked checking account is a paltry 0.01 percent APY. Online banks offer much higher APYs on money market accounts.
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Accounts with balances below $500 are subject to a $5 monthly fee (though there are a few things you can do to get the fee waived, like link a Momentum Checking account).
Fifth Third Bank Momentum Checking overview
Pros
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Access to more than 2,400 Fifth Third ATMs, along with additional fee-free partner ATMs across the country.
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Free overdraft protection transfers from a linked account.
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Direct deposit customers may receive their paycheck up to two days early.
Cons
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Expensive overdraft fees of $37 per overdrafting transaction, which can be charged up to three times per day.
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The Momentum Checking account doesn’t pay any interest, so you may want to compare to the best checking accounts to see how much you could earn with a different account.
Bank fees
| Fee | Charged? |
|---|---|
| Overdraft fee | $37 |
| Non-sufficient funds fee | None |
| Monthly maintenance fee | $0-$5 |
| Out-of-network ATM fee | $3.50 for most accounts |
| Excessive transaction fee | None |
Customer experience
Customer support
Physical presence and customer support. Customers also have access to nearly 1,100 branches to conduct in-person banking. The bank’s call center is closed Sundays, but 24/7 support is available via a chat function on its website. Fifth Third Bank provides access to its own network of around 2,400 ATMs, along with fee-free partner ATMs and a highly rated mobile app. You are eligible to open an account at Fifth Third Bank if you live in one of these states: Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Mixed customer satisfaction. Fifth Third Bank received mixed customer satisfaction scores. For example, the bank topped the charts for customer satisfaction among customers in Florida in J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. Customers on Trustpilot don’t agree: The bank has a 1.3 out of 5 rating based on 300 reviews.
Recent legal trouble. Fifth Third Bank paid a $20 million settlement last year after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found the bank had triggered unlawful auto repossessions and opened fake accounts.
Digital experience
Highly rated mobile app and Zelle integration. The Fifth Third mobile app has a high rating on the Apple App and Google Play stores. Across both platforms, more than 600,000 users have rated the app. Zelle, for peer-to-peer payments, is also available.
Early pay. Fifth Third offers a feature called early pay, which allows customers to get their paycheck via direct deposit up to two days sooner, though this feature is not unique to Fifth Third Bank.
Bankrate staff insights
“When I signed up with Fifth Third, there was a bonus worth a few hundred dollars for setting up direct deposit, which helped me get over the inertia of moving to a new account,” said a Bankrate staff member with an account. “The only downside is that Fifth Third doesn’t offer a high yield on their savings account, so I keep my savings in a separate online bank — but their mobile app makes it really easy to transfer money in and out."
Disclosure: To enhance our product reviews, Bankrate employees often open accounts and provide feedback. They may have been compensated for their time and account maintenance, but this does not affect the integrity of their review.
The above images were last updated on July 12, 2024.
Review methodology
We assign a score to each type of account and its features, weigh them carefully based on importance to account holders and determine an overall score. Read our full review methodology.
Fifth Third Bank customer reviews
Fifth Third Bank has 47 reviews
Dive into community reviews below and see what others think about Fifth Third Bank.
July 2024, Bankrate collaborated with a third-party vendor to survey 1,200 bank account holders nationwide. Bankrate and our vendor collected and summarized account holder responses to five rating questions on a 5-point scale as well as open-ended reviews of the banking experience. Responses are based on individual account holder product details, and therefore cannot be verified for accuracy. User ratings are unedited and have not been reviewed or approved by the associated bank or credit union, nor do these responses reflect Bankrate's own expert review of these banking products.
