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Fifth Third Bank Reviews & Complaints

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is the Cincinnati-based banking subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp, offering checking and savings accounts, mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. In July 2024 it settled two CFPB matters, over force-placed auto insurance from 2011 to 2019 and over alleged unauthorized accounts, agreeing to $20 million in penalties plus redress while neither admitting nor denying the CFPB's findings or allegations.

REVIEWS & COMPLAINTS557on USAComplaints · none in last 3 yrs · latest 2013
PHONE1-513-579-5353Customer service from outside the US
WEBSITE53.com
HEADQUARTERSCincinnati, OH
PROFILE CHECKED2026-11-03
Submit a Complaint Read reviews & complaints ↓ Call 1-513-579-5353 Official website ↗
VERIFIED

Contacts

Customer service & general contact

Cancel, billing & returns

VERIFIED

Locations

  • Headquarters38 Fountain Square Plaza Cincinnati OH 45263
EDITORIAL

How to contact Fifth Third Bank and escalate a complaint

Phone lines. Customer service is 1-800-972-3030, Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, closed Sunday; the same number takes reports of lost or stolen cards and fraud, and the bank's dispute guide says representatives take lost or stolen card reports on it around the clock, while other service follows the hours above. Transaction disputes go to 1-877-833-6197. Business customers call 1-877-534-2264, and callers outside the US use 1-513-579-5353. Write down the date, the representative's name and any reference number, and confirm important requests in writing.

Lost card or fraud. Report it at once by phone, in online banking or in the 5/3 mobile app; the app also lets you block the card while you check whether a charge is fraudulent. The bank's dispute guide says a card tied to a fraudulent transaction has to be closed and replaced.

Disputing a debit card or electronic transaction. The disputes department (1-877-833-6197) is open Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. Have ready the account number, the date and amount of each transaction, the merchant's name and the reason. The bank says it decides within 10 business days; if it needs longer it may take up to 45 days (90 days for new accounts, point-of-sale and foreign transactions), and in that case it provisionally credits the disputed amount within 10 business days (20 business days for new accounts). If a dispute is denied, you can ask for a new review with additional information, but no temporary credit is given for that review.

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Deadlines that matter. Under the bank's Deposit Account Rules and Regulations, errors in electronic transfers on personal accounts, including debit card, ATM and ACH transactions, must be reported no later than 60 days after the first statement showing the problem; if you report by phone, the bank may ask you to confirm in writing within 10 business days, and if it does not receive that confirmation it may not provisionally credit your account (section 9.2(i)). If a card, PIN or password is lost or stolen, tell the bank at once: reporting a lost or stolen password or PIN within 2 business days of learning of it limits your loss to $50; after that you could lose up to $500 if the bank can show it could have stopped the use had you told it, and if unauthorized transfers on a statement go unreported for 60 days you may not get back money taken after that period (section 9.2(a)). Wire transfers have a shorter limit: errors must be reported in writing as soon as you discover them and no later than 14 days after the statement showing them is made available (section 9.4(i)). For other statement problems, including unauthorized or altered checks, and for business accounts, the rules require written notice within 30 days after the statement is made available, and if an unauthorized transaction is not reported within those 30 days the bank is not liable for later unauthorized transactions by the same person (section 3.2(c)). For a Fifth Third credit card, the federal Fair Credit Billing Act gives you 60 days from the statement date to dispute a billing error in writing.

Overdraft fees. On its checking accounts other than Express Banking, the bank charges $35 per overdraft item, up to 3 fees a day. No fee is charged if the account is overdrawn by $5 or less at the end of the business day, or on any item of $5 or less. Checks, ACH payments, bill payments and scheduled debit card payments are covered automatically; everyday one-time debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals are only covered if you enroll. You can opt out of all overdraft coverage in the mobile app or at a branch, in which case such transactions are declined instead. Overdraft Protection moves money from a linked savings account, Equity Flexline or credit card. The bank charges no transfer fee on Momentum, Enhanced and Preferred Checking; on Essential Checking, Business Banking and Commercial accounts the transfer fee is $12, and the bank's consumer disclosures say it is not charged when the account is overdrawn by $5 or less at the end of the business day. A transfer from a credit card is treated as a cash advance at the card's cash advance rate, and a transfer from a line of credit accrues that line's interest. Extra Time is included automatically with Momentum Checking and Preferred Checking, according to the bank's Extra Time page, and the bank suggests enrolling in account alerts so you hear about an overdraft quickly. You avoid the fee by depositing enough before midnight Eastern on the business day after the overdraft to bring the balance to at least $0, also covering outstanding checks, automatic payments and pending debit card purchases that may post that day; it does not apply to items returned unpaid. New Momentum and Preferred Checking accounts are not charged overdraft fees for their first 90 days. The bank states that paying an overdraft is at its discretion.

Account closure and dormant accounts. The Deposit Account Rules let the bank close an account at any time for any reason; it mails a check for any positive balance minus what you owe, returns items presented after closure, and you remain liable for an overdrawn balance (section 3.2(g)). A checking account becomes dormant after 12 months with no deposits or withdrawals and a savings account after 36 months; dormant accounts may be charged a fee, and abandoned balances are turned over to the state treasury of your last address as unclaimed property, where they can be claimed (section 10.3).

Arbitration. For accounts opened on or after November 14, 2019, either you or the bank may elect binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association instead of a court case, and claims cannot be arbitrated as a class action. On written request the bank will temporarily advance up to $500 of arbitration fees after you pay the equivalent of a court filing fee; the arbitrator decides at the end who bears those fees, and each side pays its own lawyers. Covered borrowers under the Military Lending Act arbitrate only if they choose to (section 11).

If the bank does not fix it. File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or (855) 411-2372; the CFPB forwards it to the bank and the bank's response appears in your CFPB portal. Because Fifth Third Bank is a national bank, you can also complain to its supervisor, the OCC's Customer Assistance Group, at HelpWithMyBank.gov or 1-800-613-6743. Your state attorney general's consumer protection office takes complaints too, and calls or messages from impostors posing as the bank can be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

EDITORIAL

Is Fifth Third Bank Legitimate?

Legal name
Fifth Third Bank, National Association
Business type
National bank and consumer lender, subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp
Website
53.comSource: Fifth Third customer service page, checked 2026-11-03
Headquarters
Cincinnati, OHSource: Fifth Third Bancorp Form 10-K cover page, principal executive offices, checked 2026-11-03
Owned by
Fifth Third BancorpSource: Fifth Third Bancorp annual report, Form 10-K, checked 2026-11-03

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is a federally chartered national bank and consumer lender, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp. It is supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, whose Customer Assistance Group takes complaints about national banks alongside the CFPB. The BBB lists it as an accredited business since 1928.

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

BBBBBB accredited, not rated, complaints filed in the last 3 years
1,216 reviews · 1,435 complaints · BBB business grade Not Rated · average customer rating 3.38 / 5
CFPBAll complaints in the CFPB database under this company name
15,997 complaints
TrustpilotProfile not claimed by the company
1,140 reviews · TrustScore 3.7 / 5
CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Reviews & Complaints on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 557 historical complaints about Fifth Third Bank, published between 2002 and 2013. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources on this page.

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Had an experience with Fifth Third Bank? Tell other people what happened.

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EDITORIAL

Complaint record: CFPB, BBB, Trustpilot and posts on this site

CFPB. The CFPB Consumer Complaint Database lists 15,997 complaints under FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION, received from December 2011 to October 2026. The largest product groups are checking or savings accounts (4,695) and mortgages (3,501). The company's responses are listed as closed with explanation for 13,052 complaints, closed with monetary relief for 1,334 and closed with non-monetary relief for 1,236. These are consumers' allegations as filed, not CFPB findings.

BBB. Fifth Third Bank is a BBB accredited business with no BBB letter rating; the BBB says it does not have sufficient information to issue one. Its Cincinnati profile shows 1,435 complaints in the last 3 years and 340 in the last 12 months, most of them classed as billing issues (994), followed by service or repair (297). BBB reviewers give an average of 3.38 out of 5 across 1,216 reviews.

Trustpilot. The 53.com profile, which the company has not claimed, shows a TrustScore of 3.7 from 1,140 reviews.

This site. 557 published complaint reports are linked to this profile. The posts are consumers' own accounts, most published between 2007 and 2009. The common subjects are overdraft fees charged while deposits were pending or after transactions were reordered, holds on deposited checks, auto loan and lease billing (including insurance the bank added to car loans), and mortgage and home equity servicing. Each source is counted separately; the figures are not added together.

EDITORIAL

CFPB actions against Fifth Third Bank

Force-placed auto insurance (2024). On July 9, 2024 the CFPB issued an administrative order against the bank (2024-CFPB-0006) over force-placed insurance, coverage the bank bought and charged to auto loan borrowers. The conduct covered July 2011 to December 2019: according to the order, the bank ended its force-placed insurance program in January 2019 and kept existing policies on borrowers' accounts through December 2019. The CFPB found the practice unfair under the Consumer Financial Protection Act and said that more than half of the force-placed policies were charged to borrowers who had kept their own insurance all along or obtained it within 30 days. According to the CFPB, about 35,000 consumers paid more than $12.7 million in charges for coverage that gave them no value, and about 1,000 had their cars repossessed. Fifth Third consented to the order without admitting or denying the findings. The order requires the bank to comply with the law, pay redress and pay a $5 million civil money penalty. The CFPB lists the matter as post order. Borrowers with questions about redress can call 1-833-644-5317 or email [email protected], the contacts given on the CFPB's page.

Unauthorized accounts (2020 to 2024). The CFPB sued the bank in federal court, alleging that it opened accounts and enrolled customers in products without their consent. The case was settled without a trial: on July 18, 2024 the court entered a stipulated judgment requiring a $15 million civil money penalty and redress, without any finding of fact or law, and the bank neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The court case is described in full under Court records below.

Earlier orders (2015). On September 28, 2015 the CFPB filed two consent orders. One (2015-CFPB-0024) concerned what the CFPB called discriminatory pricing of auto loans arranged through dealers; the bank consented without admitting or denying the findings and was required to pay $18 million in redress to affected borrowers, and the order ran for three years. The other (2015-CFPB-0025) concerned deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products and required an estimated $3 million in relief to eligible consumers and a $500,000 penalty. The CFPB lists both orders as expired, terminated or dismissed. Its page on the auto loan order also notes that in April 2026 the CFPB amended Regulation B to state that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act does not authorize disparate-impact liability.

PUBLIC RECORD

Court & Public Records

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Fifth Third Bank, National Association

Judgment

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of OhioDocket 1:21-cv-00262Source ↗

Judgment entered

The CFPB sued the bank on March 9, 2020 in the Northern District of Illinois; the case was transferred to the Southern District of Ohio on February 12, 2021, and the CFPB filed an amended complaint on June 16, 2021. The CFPB alleged that the bank opened accounts and enrolled consumers in products and services without their consent, misled consumers about its sales practices and failed to address the misconduct, in violation of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Truth in Lending Act and the Truth in Savings Act. The parties settled: the CFPB filed a proposed stipulated judgment and final order on July 9, 2024, and Judge Douglas R. Cole approved and entered it on July 18, 2024. The judgment was entered without adjudication of any issue of fact or law, and Fifth Third neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the amended complaint. The order requires the bank to pay a $15 million civil money penalty and redress to consumers, to comply with the law, and not to set performance-management and sales goals for employees that foster the opening of unauthorized accounts.

EDITORIAL

Who Fifth Third Bank is

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is the banking subsidiary of Fifth Third Bancorp, whose principal executive offices are at 38 Fountain Square Plaza, Cincinnati, Ohio 45263, according to the Bancorp's annual report on Form 10-K. As a national bank it is chartered and supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In the CFPB complaint database the company appears as FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION.

The bank offers checking and savings accounts, mortgages and home equity lines, auto loans, credit cards and business banking. Fifth Third's acquisition of Comerica closed on February 1, 2026, according to the Bancorp's Form 8-K, and local coverage of the closing put the combined bank at about $294 billion in assets.

The bank often calls itself "5/3", and complaints filed under that shorthand belong to the same bank.

VERIFIED

Company Relationships

  • Owned byFifth Third Bancorp
CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Related Complaints

Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.

EDITORIAL

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Fifth Third Bank customer service phone number?

The main customer service number is 1-800-972-3030, answered Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern; it also takes lost or stolen card and fraud reports. Transaction disputes have their own line, 1-877-833-6197, and business customers call 1-877-534-2264.

How do I file a complaint about Fifth Third Bank with the CFPB?

Submit it at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or by phone at (855) 411-2372. The CFPB forwards the complaint to the bank, which is expected to respond, and you can follow the response in your CFPB account. Include the account type, dates, amounts and what you have already asked the bank to do. In the CFPB's public database the company is listed as FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION. You can also complain to the bank's federal supervisor, the OCC, at HelpWithMyBank.gov.

What did the CFPB announce against Fifth Third Bank in July 2024?

Two settlements, in both of which the bank neither admitted nor denied the CFPB's findings or allegations: a consent order over force-placed auto insurance charged from 2011 to 2019 ($5 million penalty plus redress), and a court-entered stipulated judgment over alleged unauthorized accounts ($15 million penalty plus redress and a ban on sales goals that foster unauthorized accounts). Details and redress contacts are in the CFPB actions section above.

What does "5/3" or "53 Bank" mean in complaints?

They are shorthand for Fifth Third Bank. The bank uses "5/3" itself, for example in the name of its 5/3 mobile app, and its website is 53.com. Many complaints in this site's archive write the name as "5/3", "5th 3rd" or "53".

Did Fifth Third merge with Comerica?

Fifth Third Bancorp's acquisition of Comerica Incorporated closed on February 1, 2026. Comerica Bank and Comerica Bank & Trust were merged into Fifth Third Bank, National Association, so former Comerica Bank accounts are now held by Fifth Third Bank.

How much is the Fifth Third overdraft fee and how can I avoid it?

The fee is $35 per item, with at most 3 fees a day, and no fee if the account is overdrawn by $5 or less at the end of the business day or on items of $5 or less. Ways to avoid it: link a savings account, Equity Flexline or credit card for Overdraft Protection transfers (a $12 transfer fee applies on Essential Checking, Business Banking and Commercial accounts, and credit card transfers are charged as cash advances); on Momentum or Preferred Checking use Extra Time by depositing enough before midnight Eastern on the next business day to bring the balance to at least $0; or opt out of overdraft coverage in the mobile app or at a branch so that such transactions are declined instead.

How long do I have to dispute a Fifth Third transaction?

For debit card, ATM and other electronic transfers on a personal account, the bank's Deposit Account Rules say it must hear from you within 60 days after the first statement showing the error, and a phone report may have to be confirmed in writing within 10 business days (section 9.2(i)). Wire transfer errors must be reported in writing within 14 days of the statement (section 9.4(i)). For other statement problems, such as unauthorized or altered checks, and for business accounts, the rules require written notice within 30 days (section 3.2(c)). Call the disputes line at 1-877-833-6197 and report fraud at once on 1-800-972-3030.