https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/16/fifth-third-closing-cincinnati-branch-kroger.html
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Fifth Third Bank has decided to close one of its Greater Cincinnati banking locations.
Downtown-based Fifth Third (Nasdaq: FITB), the largest locally based bank and the ninth-largest U.S.-based consumer bank, will close its Mason Bank Mart branch in a Kroger store at 5210 State Route 741 on Oct. 26, Fifth Third spokeswoman Beth Oates told me.
Customers will be directed to another branch in Mason or one in Deerfield Township, Oates said.
Fifth Third has 102 branches in Greater Cincinnati, easily the most of any bank. U.S. Bank was second with 74 as of June 2022, according to the most recent data from the FDIC. But it closed four local banking offices in June.
The closing is part of Fifth Third’s ongoing review of its branch network.
“This is part of our overall strategy to enhance our distribution in Cincinnati with new locations and branch refreshes,” Oates said.
That includes a newly built Miami Township banking center near Milford, a refreshed branch in Newport and a branch at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport due to open later this year.
Fifth Third operates 26 Bank Mart locations inside grocery stores in Greater Cincinnati, so that continues to be a key part of its strategy.
Fifth Third said earlier this summer it is closing another local branch in Westwood. It will shutter that location Aug. 31. It’s also closing an Evansville, Ind., location and another in Raleigh, N.C.
At the same time, Fifth Third is on a spree of opening bank branches in the Southeast. It’s opening at least eight there in the second half of the year in Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. Those are part of the bank’s plan to open 25 new branches in the Southeast this year. Most will be in the Carolinas and Florida,
Banks have been closing branches frequently in recent years as consumers’ banking habits have changed significantly. Consumers are using mobile apps, online banking and ATMs for typical transactions far more frequently than visiting branches and working with tellers.
Over the four-year span between 2017 and 2021, 9% of all bank branch offices closed, according to the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
But banks still view branches as vital to provide customers with expertise for loans, financial planning and other more complex financial needs. Branches are also viewed as a marketing tool to let potential customers know the bank is operating in that area.