Fifth Third has opened its 200th financial center in Florida, a milestone that signals how far the bank’s Southeast strategy has come and how much further it plans to go.
The new Champions Crossing location in Davenport is part of a wider push that also includes the bank’s 100th branch in the Carolinas.
Fifth Third now operates more than 1,100 banking centers across the country and expects that number to climb after its planned acquisition of Comerica closes in early 2026.
“We’ve been on a journey since 2018,” said Shawn Niehaus, head of consumer banking at Fifth Third. “We talked about expanding into the Southeast with a story around building density. For us, it was a play we were going to finish from day one.”
Since launching that Southeast plan, Fifth Third has opened 172 new branches, upgraded 71 existing locations, entered 14 new markets and added 688 team members to its consumer bank.
Florida has been one of the biggest beneficiaries, with more than 76 new branches in seven years and 200 locations statewide.
Following the people and the jobs
The strategy reflects a simple reality: people and employers have been moving south.
“I’m a lifelong Floridian,” said Scott Daigle, Fifth Third’s regional president for North Florida. “The sunshine has always been a draw, but the fact that there are jobs here, good living wages, great opportunity to raise your family and amazing amenities, as a lot of these communities have built out and continue to reinvest. It’s just great to be alongside these communities to help them grow and help these families realize what their dreams are.”
Before the Southeast push, Fifth Third’s branch network was heavily concentrated in the Midwest, where population growth has been slower.
The expansion into Florida, the Carolinas and now Alabama changes that mix.
“For our benefit, prior to our Southeast expansion, we were mainly concentrated in the Midwest,” Niehaus said. “Now, when you put together the Southeast, high growth, high population, we’re going to get to density in these locations and continue to diversify our whole footprint. Long and short of it is, we’ll be in 17 of the top 20 markets that are having the most robust population growth.”
Florida, in particular, will play a larger role inside the company.
“Keeping with the theme, we’re going to change the play here in Florida,” Daigle said. “Florida will be larger than Ohio, which is where our headquarters is, by the end of ’27 for the number of locations.”
Fifth Third already has more than 700 colleagues in North Florida and a similar number in South Florida, he added.
A promise kept in the Southeast
Internally, leaders see the 200-branch milestone as proof that the bank is doing what it told investors and local markets it would.
“A lot of folks said, ‘Hey, we’re going to build 150 branches’ or ‘we’re going to build 50 branches,’ and sometimes you get it and sometimes you add just to say it,” Niehaus said. “For us, it was a play that we were going to finish from day one. We stayed to that commitment and we’re going to continue to run at that through 2028, which would be 200 new branches.”
That original Southeast plan is not the endpoint. Fifth Third has already entered Alabama and has announced plans to add another 170 locations by 2029, including a major build-out in Texas.
“About 80% of the properties that we were looking to be at are already under letter of intent,” Niehaus said. “So we’re in good shape to continue to finish that play through 2028 in the Southeast, and in the Southwest we’re taking the same goal and going there.”
Merging with Comerica and moving west
The planned merger with Comerica would bring new scale in the Southwest and deepen Fifth Third’s Midwest base.
“We’ve been in the news a lot lately,” Niehaus said. “The most significant news is really our merger with Comerica. We’re going to continue to scale into new states that we haven’t been into and then be able to utilize all the great things at Comerica combined with all the great things at Fifth Third.”
Comerica brings a presence in Texas, Arizona and California. In Michigan, where Comerica has a long history, the combined bank expects to hold the top spot by market share.
“When we get through all the legal and regulatory requirements and get to customer day one, the branch will have the Fifth Third name on it,” Niehaus said. “We’ve done mergers for years. We’re comfortable, we have a playbook. Really, it’s about the two cultures coming together and winning together.”
The Southeast expansion will not pause while the Comerica deal moves through the approval process.
“This is business as usual for us in the Southeast,” Niehaus said. “It will not stop. We don’t build one hundred branches one hundred different ways. We build one branch one hundred times and we have a playbook.”
Using AI to keep branches personal
Even as it adds branches, Fifth Third is leaning hard on data and AI to shape how those locations serve customers.
Niehaus pointed to the bank’s “customer recommendation engine,” a suite of models and tools that help branch teams identify which clients to call and what to offer them.
“We have comparative models that we’ve built as well as using different tools,” he said. “We look for how we want to serve our customers. It is all about giving them what they need and want, including financial advice. By using AI and the tools that we have that built internally, the branches are serving the population with, ‘Here is the best solution for your client.’”
Those models feed real activity. Niehaus said branch teams will make more than 14 million outbound calls this year based on the leads that flow into their queues.
The digital side of the house has also become a calling card. Fifth Third Momentum Banking offers features such as early access to paychecks, tools that help customers avoid overdraft fees and free digital estate planning. The bank’s SmartShield experience “gamifies” digital safety inside the app.
“J.D. Power recognized us this year as number one for banking mobile app use satisfaction among regional banks,” Niehaus said.
He noted that Florida ranked No. 1 in J.D. Power’s retail bank customer satisfaction study and that the bank’s mobile app is also ranked No. 1 for customer satisfaction among regional banks. In the small business, Fifth Third has earned a second-place ranking.
Customers, he said, are choosing digital channels on their own.
“We’re not pushing customers there,” Niehaus said. “They’re going there because it’s easy to get solutions.”
Daigle said that the balance between tech and people is part of why branch expansion still matters.
“Customers need personal attention,” he said. “That’s why we’re committed to a retail distribution to the scale that we have here in Florida.”
Community impact
The expansion is also tied to community work around housing, food and education.
In Florida, Fifth Third’s 200 branches span consumer, commercial and wealth services. The bank has invested more than $20 million in East Tampa, gives nearly $1 million a year to charitable initiatives across the state and supports disaster relief through Fifth Third Foundation grants. Its bright green eBus travels to underserved neighborhoods to deliver financial education.
Fifth Third also serves as the official bank of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Florida Everblades.
In the Carolinas, where the new Weaverville branch brings the total to 100 locations, the bank has backed a $113.2 million revitalization effort in Charlotte’s Historic West End, including direct investments of $85.2 million.
Projects range from a fresh-food hub and small-business space to senior housing and home preservation. Regionwide, more than 1,100 employees focus on affordable housing, food access, small business support and financial empowerment.
What’s next
Inside Florida, Daigle said the focus is clear.
“We’re continuing to be committed to the community, providing philanthropic support of money and time and talent,” he said. “This is about creating a great place for Floridians to work and providing that top customer service. The recognition will come if we do what we’re supposed to do with customers.”
Fifth Third plans to formally celebrate the 200-branch milestone with a ribbon-cutting in late January. Details will be shared once the date is set.
“I think it is a win for everybody,” Niehaus said of the broader strategy. “Comerica was a great commercial bank. I’m really excited for this team to come to Fifth Third and for Fifth Third to Comerica.”
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