Fifth Third today announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland rated it “Outstanding” for CRA performance for its most recent examination period: January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016. The Bank earned an ‘Outstanding’ rating on the Lending and Investment tests and ‘High Satisfactory’ on the Service test resulting in an overall ‘Outstanding’ rating.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180110005692/en/

Greg Carmichael, president and CEO, Fifth Third Bancorp (Photo: Business Wire)

Greg Carmichael, president and CEO, Fifth Third Bancorp (Photo: Business Wire)

The evaluation cited several reasons for Fifth Third’s overall ‘Outstanding’ rating. The Bank demonstrated an excellent responsiveness to credit needs; distribution of loans among borrowers of different income levels and businesses of different revenue sizes; leadership in making community development loans and investments; and leadership in providing community development services.

During the exam period, Fifth Third:

  • Extended nearly $7 billion to developments in underserved communities in the form of loans ($5.9 billion) and investments ($980.5 million). Fifth Third’s participation in commercial economic development projects stabilize and revitalize neighborhoods and provide affordable housing.
  • Provided investments of more than $567 million to support affordable housing units, designed for individuals who earn less than 60 percent of the U.S. average median income and low- and moderate-income areas located within the Bank’s footprint.
  • Distributed $27.3 million to nonprofit community organizations through the Fifth Third Foundation and Fifth Third Bancorp.
  • Employees volunteered 118,861 hours of service to low- and moderate-income individuals and in low- and moderate-income communities.

The Community Reinvestment Act requires banks to meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income communities. The exam assesses bank practices such as mortgage lending, small business lending, community development lending and investments, bank services to communities, and employee community involvement. For the overall rating and three subcategories, banks are assigned one of four ratings: Outstanding, Satisfactory, Needs to Improve or Substantial Noncompliance.

In 2016, Fifth Third made a five-year, $30 billion community commitment developed in conjunction with the National Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) to improve lives and the well-being of communities throughout its geographic footprint. The plan outlined $30 billion to be lent or invested in low- and moderate-income (LMI) borrowers and in LMI communities through the year 2020. It included $11 billion in mortgage lending, $10 billion in small business lending, and $9 billion in community development lending and investments (CDLI). Additionally, it committed $154.8 million over five years for Fifth Third Impact programming.

As of September 30, 2017, Fifth Third had delivered community support of $13.5 billion against the $30 billion commitment, results that were trending ahead of pace by nearly 28 percent. Full year-two Commitment results will be reported in March 2018.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. As of Sept. 30, 2017, the Company had $142 billion in assets and operated 1,155 full-service Banking Centers and 2,465 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to nearly 55,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third also has an 8.6 percent interest in Vantiv Holding, LLC. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of Sept. 30, 2017, had $348 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $36 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.” Fifth Third Bank was established in 1858. Member FDIC.