Fifth Third Bank / 53.com
Reviews and Complaints

I have been a customer of 53 for 30 years and have done my banking mostly on line using my AOL browser. Last week I decided to go on line with the EDGE browser.Unfortunately I had some typos in my user ID and password and after two trials 53 locked my account access under the heading of "we want to be sure who you are" The message included a phone number for assistance. I called 4 times, talking to 4 separate 53 employees, mostly in the Philippines. The bottom line was that I should have a cell phone and they could send me a code. Since we are elderly we do not use a cell phone. I asked if anyone had the authority to override the computer program and verify my authenticity another way like sending a code to the customers e-mail account since everyone has an e-mail to do on-line banking but may not have a cell phone. The usual response was no cell phone no unlocking my account. If I cannot resolve this matter next week I may need to terminate my 30 year association with 53.

I tried to do bill pay online for my credit card, after an extreme long hold I got them and they said I had to fill out a request and they mailed it to. I filled it out and returned it. When the approval came it said it was to pay the minimum payment which I didn't request, I wanted statement balance paid. Again a long wait on the phone and got a woman who couldn't find that I had submitted or was approved, I had told her all of this, she then stated that I would have to send in another request, I said, did you hear what I said, I have the approval letter, I had to leave my garage and walk to the house to the office and read the letter to her. Then she set it up. No one said that Sept. 14 the bill pay could be set up on line. Then I get a stupid, I mean stupid survey, I wanted to tell you on that survey how your phone system sucks, the crap to use you web site. I think I rated the 5/3 branch in the Kroger market, and that is the only reason I'm still a customer. The branch manager took care of the bill pay, He is the only reason I wasn't in the branch removing my nearly $500,000. I'm sick of the crap service, you call and they want your ss number, put it in then they want a pin. I don't have a stupid pin, because I don;t have a debit or atm card, damn, how do I have the gull to be unamerican and not have a stupid debit card or atm. Now I'm on the phone trying to get this STUPID ILLETERATE survey reversed. The branch manager is the only reason I'm still at 5/3rd, the ONLY reason. Now I'm told I can't do anything about the survey, now I'm asking the supervisor over that branch office call me so I can explain what happen. Probably won't happen, why, because 5/3rd only talks about customer service, they don't have any unless you call or go to Kroger Market place branch. The manager there actually cares. Not even reread this, I'm to pissed at 5/3rd!

Recently Bronson, for security reasons placed a double check whenever I wished to read my accounts on line. I am not complaining that they did this but rather it does not work and they have no plans to help me.

I followed the on line instructions namely answering a phone call which then gave me a four letter code to put in on my computer. Immediately the following message came up:

"Oops, something went wrong. If you don't think you should have received this message, you can go back and try again, or you may contact Customer Service at [protected].

Reference Number: 47bc23

IP Address: 68.188.182.233"

I called and after fighting my way through many robots I got a human who could not help me and said he was transferring me to someone who could but yet again I got a robot demanding why I was changing my pin number. I went into the bank and was told by an officer in his office he would check into the matter and let me know the next day, He never did. Went into the bank again and was told they could not help me that I must help myself and that the person who said he would help was not a bank employee. How could he be sitting in an office advising clients if he was not employed in the bank? There was no assistance except to go home and help myself. Not one offered to help except repeating I must help myself. I am so disgusted that I am going to leave this bank that I have been with since 1970. This will be difficult because I make many payments with their automatic process.

The 53 Bank address that I was dealing with was on West Main in Kalamazoo MI

I hope this explains my dilemma

i go online to pay off my 5th 3rd credit card. But they have it blocked for no reason. The stupid thing is that they wont let me pay it off. After 2 hours of run around phone calls they say they will unblock the account card so i can pay it off but they want me to go to the bank or get a text which i cannot do. So the idiots at 5th 3rd will prevent me from paying their own card off, and mess with my banking account because of their stupidity. And i dont get paid for my time. The crooks on the phone at 5th 3rd are all rude unhelpful criminals

I have banked with 53 since early 80's. But one more blow up,(have had 4 within last year) and I will be a former customer. You claim to make banking a 53 better. You'd have to get to the level of good before you can get to better.

If you care to do so, call me @[protected] but I only want to talk to someone on American soil, not across the pond

Went to ATM yesterday and system would not give me the option to withdraw MY money. I could deposit, but not withdraw. Went to another (competitor) bank to get what I needed.

Called today to find out why, and 4 hours later I got a call back.

While making my regular house payment early each month. I pay extra to my escrow account instead of the P & I. This past month after calling and requesting to put extra into my escrow account they put my whole payment into Escrow causing me to appear to have failed to make my monthly payment.

Trying to use customer service to correct the situation I must wait 5 business days to get them to correct there mistake.

Can anyone correct this simple problem ?

To:

[protected]@fifththird.com

Fri, Sep 2 at 7:43 PM

Good Afternoon,

I am very disturb about your employees running 2 insurance payments without checking to see which one is valid you ran Mercury as well as Nationwide bank . Seems as though your employees would have checked their notes to see what happened. I was going to change my policy and we initially had the change set for September 6, 2022. I then changed my mind and decided to keep nationwide and I called mercury way in advance. They must have put the changed through right away. But non the less your employees should have read their notes to see that you had already taken a payment out of escrow and they could have called me to ensure of this change before taking another payment. Niketa the lady I spoke with had me on hold waiting for a supervisor until they knew they were about to close. Tracy called back left a voice message on my phone in full detail that is against FDCPA guidelines and a violation of my privacy she should have spoken to me directly. This will be reported to the FTC board. You should have followed up to ensure this payment was suppose to have been taken shame on fifth third for hiring lazy employees. The employees at this bank are very incompetent they are very dishonest and unprofessional. Do not seem to take their job serious in which the will be reported to FTC board

Thank You

Mrs. LeVorn Spencer

That contract barred Young's, Quinn's, Palmer's, Hensen's, Petty's, Bennett's, Father Morioty, or any other religions or people, no charity organizations, Kelley's, police, city, State, Federal Governments, or military, No other Helsel family other than myself! No school, or college, picket/holder's, No one to the government,& more, bank,! Did not offer loans!

I'm writing to complain about the poorly managed branch at 87th & Harlem in Bridgeview (7200 W. 87th St). It's a small branch and never busy. I've rarely seen more than 2 customers there at any given time. They NEVER answer their phones. I had to call 5/3 Bank to file a complaint against this branch. Yesterday (Thursday) I called no less than 23 times and never did anyone pick up over the course of 4 hours during which I placed those calls. Pathetic customer service! They need to fire the manager and his slacker underlings and get people in there who are willing to do the job!

I have been trying to reach fifth third for the last 2 days, and it rings then states they are having technical difficulties. I have had people from other countries using the fifth third phone number calling me about "fraudulent" charges on my account...asking for my card number. I do not give any info, but some people might. It is getting to the point they are calling me 6-7 times per day. I call fifth third and they are having technical issues...

It has happened for the over 40 years now, that you all have stolen from me! I have emailed for 20 years now telling you all; you all stole my money! I had lawsuits money, benefits packages, and pay rolls I had worked for in those accounts! I did not give you a right to invest it, or loan it out! That is illegal and you can't touch lawsuits money by law! I did not give you a right to let people borrow it! I know two of the banks in your system that stole it, and I have heard there is a 3rd bank that stole it! No one in my family said you could! I'm a kidnapped victim you all stole what people owe me, and what my family left me! I'm a sheriff, and Military police that was still active duty, which it's illegal to steal from Service men! Not to mention it was under contract that no one was allowed to touch it but me! I need all my money now! I have been turning you all in for 20 years now; and by now you all should have my money back! I have pressed charges too many times on your bank! I do not have a mom, dad, sister, uncle, aunt, brother, or cousin in this Country! So no one was allowed to take it out! You all owe me the interest that I lost too! You all have to pay the 500 Gauzillion dollars you owe for the contract you are all under to me for stealing my money; it's all explained in your contract you all signed when the accounts were opened! You owe it all now! They were all in nontransferable accounts, which means the money could not be transferred into another account, all of these points are explained in your contract! There is no delusional 1 day option, and you owe it all to me now! The bank that stole my money I know of are Georgetown Rd. Indianapolis, Indiana, near W.56th street, and Circleville, Ohio they are fifth third banks! I'm Stephen J Helsel; which really my real titles are King Dr. Stephen J and James Helsel; you all stole from me; too many times; and no the bank does not get to make money off my money; they get nothing! They all stole it for personal gain for the bank, pulled an inside job of bank robbery; and let people hack my bank accounts! I will not wait any longer; you all have held me up too long now; and I am already 43 years old! I have no kids! You all have ruined my life, you all owe me big time for that, and I am going to sue if I don't get all of it immediately; you all hacked other bank accounts I had, and stole the money I had in other banks systems not fifth third banks! You are all wanted for stealing, theft, bank robbery, and lying! none of your staff ever asked permission! I never would let the bank loan, let people borrow, or invest my money!

On 28July2022 I requested a transfer from on outside bank account into 53 checking account. As is standard, On 29July2022 53 sent two small deposits to the other account to verify everything was correct. I logged into outside bank to see the two amounts and then logged into 53 to tell them the amounts which should have ended verification. On 1August2022 transfer was initiated and I received a voicemail from 53 fraud department at 1050 stating I had until 1600 to call or they would cancel the transfer. I have not been able to log into my account even when I "click" forgot password. Now I am told 10August2022 that I have to talk to the fraud department to gain access. Could someone please provide documentation showing people fraudulently putting thousands into an account or maybe armed robbers demanding monies be put into accounts...

My client, Park Square Enterprises, sent us a check for $1,950.00 in March 2022. It was cashed [protected] by whomever it was that stole it. It was probably put in the wrong mail box at our complex, but we did not know that it was cashed until we called the client for payment. The check number is 62644, and the client sent us a picture of the front and back of the check. It was cashed at a 5/3 bank in Orlando, with no account number listed on the check, and a 'scribbled' artistic looking CASH for the signature. We want our money, of course, but also want you to know that a teller cashed a $1,950.00 check made out to 'The Earthworks Professional' without an ID or account number given? Park Square Enterprises has an account at 5/3, so maybe the teller assumed the person was The Earthworks Professional?

Please look into this for us.

We can text you the copy of the check with the front and 'scribble signature' to you.

I deposited 2 checks from my insurance company that I've deposited checks before remind you... and they placed the checks on a 10 day hold for god knows why! one check was 1,066.86 and the other 292.00 not even 5,000 or more! call to speak with somebody they give you the run around! This Bank is TRASH! Didn't even tell me that they was placing the checks on hold! Even went up there with the checks and still was given the run around! My paychecks are more then these 2 checks combined! Call Customer service and they give you the run around! Needless to say i will be switching banks!

We've had this vehicle loan for twoish years, and have always paid online. In June we had this problem where suddenly when we try to log in, it says username and password invalid. Spent much time trying to get a person and then having him "fix" the issue, with us having to change username and password. Guess what happened now, a month later? Same thing. They only will do chat messaging if you log in first, and trying to catch a person during their business hours is tough. If we try resetting username or password on our own, it asks for last name, social, account number, then tells us we don't have an account with them. So we'll try again tomorrow, somehow in the middle of the work day, making our payment late (we've been trying to pay for two days). Wish we'd never been stuck with this amateur hour "bank."

Fifth third reported me late on my credit report when I was not late. Fifth third received the payment on time. My account is on auto-pay from my bank so I never have to worry about it being late. Recently, my required escrow changed and they applied the entire payment to the escrow account. I called April 5, 2022 to straighten it out when I received a late notice. They redirected the funds to my mortgage account. The person on the phone assured me that this would not be reported to the credit bureau since they had received the money and it was not applied correctly. That had received it, it was simply not applied to the mortgage account. This happened to me in 2018 as well. When I called to find out why it reported and how to have it corrected, they were extremely rude (tried several times) and insisted I was late and they said they would not correct it. The credit bureau is showing 4 late payments from 5/3 but 5/3 only has record of 2 (which again were not actually late). Additionally, I looked in the Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Unclaimed Property, and found that 5/3 owes me $55.83 and $183.99. One says overpayment of escrow account. So I am filing the claims to receive this money. Clearly, my accounts had adequate funds if they claiming to owe me money to the state.

I have had a mortgage thru fifth third now for 17 years and now all of a sudden i keep having to send them proof of my mortgage insurance and when i do they still go ahead and take insurance out with an insurance company they own and charge my escrow account for both insurance companies and raising my payments because my escrow is in the negative. here is the thing quit taking insurance out when i already have it my insurance company has sent you proof 5 times. this year they did it again and i have to call and fight with them again to get them to take there insurance off.

Fifth Third Bank bought out the original lien holder and is now telling us they do not have any record of the original lien, which they should absolutely have on file somewhere! We can not get a CLEAR TITLE without a corrected release of lien letter that shows the CORRECT vin number asap! This bank has POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! I would NEVER have any dealings with them based on our experience just trying to get a release of lien fixed!

My name is Areatha. So on Sunday June 5 I sent a zelle money to someone and it never went. I called Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to get my money back. It went no where it is stuck in Fifth Third bank. When I called Monday no one attempted to help me get my money or file a dispute. Finally on Thursday they did a dispute. 😡😡😡😡. I have been waiting going on two weeks for my money. I called today 6/15 for an update. All they kept saying is that it is still being worked on. I said I need This money is for a bill and it is making me short. And asked if they can rush it. They was like I can’t. They didn’t seem to care that the money was for a bill and I needed it asap. They no care whatsoever 🥺🥺🥺🥺. I bet if it was there money, they would have had it by now. I am really considering changing banks. 🥺🥺😡😡😡

I will keep my review brief. Virtually all of the poor reviews on this site cover experiences I have had. Up front I will tell anyone who has had a bad experience to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the consumer protection office of your state Attorney General, your congressman / Senator's office if they support consumers. This Bank has no respect for it's customers. They care about those other reporting avenues and trends show a pattern of damaging conduct to consumers whether they are legal or just plain unethical.

I have had a mortgage with them for 12 years. They have always been poor with communicating anything urgent (payment change, payment receipt issue). Last month they did not apply my normal over payment to my mortgage. I had no notifications in my electronic account, email and they left no messages when they called from spam numbers (they said its against their policy to leave a voicemail message for a customer- seems like they have no real interest in getting a response)

I found out the payment was being held by accident when I logged in (after calling to reset my account after being locked out as usual because their IT systems are terrible) I made an immediate payment which they made the excuse of waiting to apply until Monday assuring they could count me late. Their justification being they couldn't take a payment on a non business day- funny they can set a due date on a non business day. Isn't that a racket- set a date you can't pay on and then count you as late.

Their calls come from literal spam callers and if you pick up there is dead silence for 15-30 seconds making you think robo call and you just hang up. There is no way to know they are trying to reach you.

They put no notifications in the online account.

I have yet to see them send out a timely mail notification. There is no post mark on the mailing to maximize their ability to feign they have followed the bare minimum of the law to send out a notice. But their actions are clear, do everything possible to reduce the probability that the consumer can respond- and why? My opinion, damage credit reports to ensure consumers are forced into high fee predatory financial products. It dropped my credit report 80 points. This bank is literally the only late reporting i have on my report. They have done this twice in 4 years.

My recommendation it to avoid all business with this Bank. If you need more review input just google the bank and lawsuits and look through reviews on multiple sites. the abusive treatment of customers is a large clear trend.