That figure is up from the $225 million the bank said in 2018 it would invest to add 100 new branches in the Southeast, Bloomberg reported Monday (Dec. 8).
Fifth Third has also expanded its plans to include Texas, along with the previously announced Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the report.
That move comes at a time when the bank is in the midst of its planned acquisition of Dallas-based Comerica, the report said.
Fifth Third recently brought its number of branches in Florida to 200 and in the Carolinas to 100, per the report.
“It’s a significant milestone, and we’re not done yet,” Shawn Niehaus, head of consumer banking at Fifth Third, told Bloomberg in an interview.
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When announcing that milestone in a Dec. 3 press release, Fifth Third said it had accelerated its expansion over the past year and now operates more than 1,100 banking centers nationwide.
That number is expected to grow “significantly” when the bank closes its acquisition of Comerica, the release said.
Since launching its Southeast expansion in 2018, Fifth Third has added 172 new locations, upgraded 71 existing ones and entered 14 new markets, per the release. In 2025 alone, the bank will launch about 50 new locations and enter a new state: Alabama.
In Texas, Fifth Third plans to add 150 locations by 2029, which will join Comerica’s existing footprint.
Speaking of the milestones the bank reached in Florida and the Carolinas, Jamie Leonard, chief operating officer at Fifth Third, said in the release: “These milestones reflect our disciplined approach to growth and our commitment to making banking easier and more personalized through innovative technology and local expertise.”
Fifth Third executives said in January that the bank was seeing gains from its investments in new branches in the Southeast and its digital banking platform.
By one measure, for the second consecutive year, Fifth Third was ranked No. 1 among all large banks in year-over-year retail deposit growth, Fifth Third Chairman, CEO and President Tim Spence said in January during an earnings call.
