Fifth Third Bank history

Rampant inflation during the Civil War, however, prompted the 1863 ratification of the Federal Banking Act, thereby creating a uniform, government-backed national currency to replace the diverse currencies issued by state banks and other firms.

In 1871, Third National Bank acquired The Bank of the Ohio Valley.

In 1873, Zions Bank became Utah’s first chartered savings and trust company.

By 1882, Third National’s capital was $16 million and is considered the largest bank capital in the state of Ohio.

In 1888, Queen City National Bank changed its name to Fifth National Bank.

Union Savings Bank and Trust Company, organized in 1890, and is also part of Fifth Third Bank’s family tree, led by Jacob G. Schmidlapp, a name that remains prominent in Cincinnati history and Fifth Third’s philanthropic efforts.

In 1901 Union Savings Bank and Trust President, Jacob G. Schmidlapp, worked with architect Daniel Burnham to erect the first skyscraper in Cincinnati and moved the bank to 36 East Fourth Street, now the Renaissance Hotel.

That’s right, BofA was originally BofI, founded as the Bank of Italy in San Francisco in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini to serve immigrants who were unwelcome at other banks (unless they were packing a mean cioppino).

The Panic of 1907 brought a run on banks and the first substantial banking and currency reform since the Civil War.

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.

Fifth Third's 1910 acquisition of two other local banks--American National Bank and S. Kuhn & Sons--increased its capital to $3 million.

Another bank industry consolidation followed World War I. The 1919 affiliation with Union Savings Bank and Trust Company, a state-chartered bank, brought several changes to Fifth Third's operations.

Fifth Third consolidated with the Union Trust Company to form the Fifth Third Union Trust Company in 1927.

The advent of the Great Depression in 1929 intensified this activity somewhat, because Fifth Third was one of the stronger banks in the Cincinnati area.

Giannini eventually acquired and merged with other banks to form Bank of America in 1930.

On August 23, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Banking Act of 1935 which moves the “Fed” out of the Treasury Department and established it as an independent entity that could set reserve requirements and interest rates.

In 1943 alone, the Bank issued over $90 million in War Bonds, with more than 60,000 bonds inscribed manually.

At the end of the war, in 1948, Fifth Third Union Trust created the Fifth Third Foundation—the first corporate foundation established by a financial institution in the United States.

By 1956, Fifth Third Union Trust had 27 offices, including branches located in shopping centers.

In 1965, The Cincinnati Redevelopment Corporation needed a substantial tenant to trigger downtown revitalization.

Schaefer was trained in engineering, but when a hoped for job designing a nuclear power plant fell through in 1969, he entered the bank's management trainee program.

Fifth Third formed Midwest Payment Solutions (MPS) in 1971 to provide Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) services to financial institutions.

In 1973, Fifth Third signed Johnny Bench, catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, as its sponsor and spokesperson, and also adopted “Working Hard to Be The Only Bank You’ll Ever Need” as its slogan.

The 1975 creation of a bank holding company, Fifth Third Bancorp, enabled the institution to sidestep some of the most rigorous state banking regulations.

By 1976 Fifth Third included 37 banking offices.

Then, in 1977, Fifth Third launched JEANIE®, forever transforming banking convenience. (MPS became Vantiv and is now Worldpay.)

Much of this vigorous growth was inspired by a new corporate leader, Clement L. Buenger, who took the helm of Fifth Third in 1981.

In 1983, Fifth Third introduced its famous lapel pin, a cultural icon that continues to be a source of pride for employees today.

George Schaefer, Jr., took Fifth Third's reins in 1989 at the age of 44.

Buenger, who was called 'one of the best acts in the business' in a 1991 Fortune article, brought his background in life insurance sales to the bank.

In 1992 Fifth Third proposed a merger with Star Banc Corp. that would have unified the two largest Cincinnati-based financial institutions.

Then, in 1994, the bank made two significant purchases: the 45-office Cumberland Federal Bancorporation in Kentucky, which had $1.1 billion in assets; and Falls Financial Inc. in northeastern Ohio, a company with $581 million in assets.

Other acquisitions Fifth Third made in 1995 included Mutual Federal Savings Bank in Dayton, Ohio; Bank One Lebanon; PNC Bank's Dayton division; and seven offices of Bank One, Cincinnati.

Fifth Third made three acquisitions in 1996: the Ohio branch of 1st Nationwide Bank, the Ohio operations of First Chicago NBD Bank, and Kentucky Enterprise Bancorp, Inc., located in northern Kentucky.

Fifth Third also acquired Heartland Capital Management Inc., a money managing company in Indiana, and Great Lakes National Bank Ohio, with eight branches in Ohio, in 1997.

To start out 1998, Fifth Third announced it would acquire CitFed Bancorp Inc. of Dayton and its subsidiary Citizens Federal Bank FSB for $661 million in stock.

In mid-1999 Fifth Third made its largest acquisition to date when it announced it would purchase CNB Bancshares Inc., the biggest independent bank holding company in Indiana.

With more than 19 000 employees and over 1 100 branches, Fifth Third Bancorp is considered one of the World’s Best Banks and one of the top 2000 largest public companies in the world, according to Forbes.

In May, Fifth Third announced its plans to take over Chicago-based MB Financial for $4.7 billion, its largest acquisition since 2001 and second-largest ever.

Fifth Third’s commitment to financial empowerment took hold in 2005 with the launch of its Lives Improved Through Financial Empowerment® (LIFE) suite of programs including the Young Bankers Club® and the Fifth Third Financial Empowerment Mobiles, called eBuses.

While Fifth Third wrote off more than $11 billion worth of loans in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, defaults have slowed to a trickle of less than half of 1 percent of the loan portfolio in the latest quarter.

On September 6, 2018, a gunman named Omar Enrique Santa-Perez entered the lobby area of the company headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, shooting and killing three people and wounding two others before being shot and killed by the Cincinnati Police.

The deal, which isn't expected to close until 2019, will give Fifth Third 91 branches and more than $14 billion in deposits in Chicago, making it the Windy City's No.

On March 9, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a lawsuit against the bank for allegedly opening unauthorized accounts and enrolling consumers in unauthorized products and services.

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