Fifth Third Now Accepts All Mobile Payments

Fifth Third Bancorp announced Wednesday (Jan. 11) it is one of a few banks based in the U.S. to offer customers the ability to use all five of the major mobile payment methods to make purchases.

In a press release, the bank said it is offering customers the ability to make credit and debit card payments using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, MasterPass, Android Pay and Microsoft Wallet.  

“At a time when more consumers want to make mobile payments, Fifth Third is pleased to be one of the first banks to offer all five mobile payment options,” said Fifth Third Bancorp President and CEO Greg Carmichael in a press release. “We are committed to providing secure and convenient ways for our customers to bank when and how they want.”

Fifth Third Bancorp pointed to research from eMarketer, which found in 2016 Americans made about $26.67 billion in purchases on mobile devices. That is a 183 percent rise from 2015. It’s expected to double again in 2017, noted the report. Fifth Third noted it has seen the popularity of mobile payments grow among its customers during the past few years. Since Fifth Third launched Apple Pay in 2015, mobile payments have risen 133 percent among its customers.

“Consumers are rapidly adopting mobile payments and we are providing our customers with every option available on the market today,” said Jimm Bell, director of Consumer and Small Business Payments for Fifth Third Bancorp, in the same release. “We want to make it simple and secure for customers to pay with their phones.”

The bank noted that security and privacy are at the core of the mobile payment methods with each service using advanced methods of payment security including authorizing transactions with a one-time unique security code or using a virtual account number to represent account information.