Fifth Third Bank / 53.com
reviews and complaints

I have banked with 53 for over 10 years. Since opening my account I have always had 24hr grace on my account. This week my account was overdrawn and had a $37 late fee assessed immediately. Upon calling customer service I was told that this was a bank error and that the charge will be reversed as long as the account was paid within 24hrs. The charge was not reversed. When I called back as I was told to do the customer service operator as well as his manager told me that they have never had a 24 hour forgiveness and whomever told me they did is a liar! This bank promotes 24 hour forgiveness on TV and radio to pull customers in yet its employees claim it has never existed. I am now stuck paying $57 for a $20 withdrawal. STRONGLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS INSTITUTION AS THEY ARE CROOKS!

Back in October 2019 I purchased a new flood insurance policy and prepaid for 2 years, the NFIP policy that I had was not renewed as a result and ended11/22/2019. After multiple phone calls and time spent on the phone I was advised that a new escrow analysis would be completed to reflect that change, that being that as part of the escrow no flood insurance should be factored i to the monthly mortgage amount. A new mortgage was completed on 11/15/19 but it still included the NFIP insurance policy was still being factored into the monthly mortgage. I had to make another phone call and when I was transferred to supervisor he responded to my question it's" I already told you". At this point he did look things over and agreed that a mistake had been made as the NFIP flood insurance should be removed from the analysis as that policy was no longer valid( again I had bought and prepaid for 2 hrs of flood insurance they the private market that took effect 11/23/2019.At this point it was supposed to be expedited to the resolution department. after 3 days a lady by the name of Takia Johnson did call my husband, mind you I have always called the bank and given them my number, but never received a call form this lady. My husband called her back each time and even asked her to call me and gave my number.. he called her back within minutes of her leaving him a message but she never did call him back. I left a message for her on 12/23 around 10 am, I received a call back today and was told that the analysis on 11/15/ was correct and basically that was that, I attempted several times to explain the issues and that it could not be correct as the NFIP flood insurance should not be factored into the analysis, Takia told me the 11/15 analysis done in 11/15 was accurate and I just didn't like her answer and no further action would be taken. I asked several times to talk to a supervisor and Takia Johnson told me she would not expedite my call. This is ridiculous . I had to call customer service and spend another 30 minutes on the phone and was told that a new analysis would be done because they could see that the NFIP flood insurance ended but was still on the analysis from 11/15/19. In the meantime 5/3rd continue to take out the wrong amount for the mortgage. Let me also state that last year at this time 5/3rd paid the flood insurance twice and that when we caught the banks mistake that it took 3 months to get it fixed.

Good morning,

In April of 2019, I fell behind in my car loan, but was able to make additional payments to set it up. I did this through the help of a customer support team that addresses this type of situation. The agent was very helpful and payments were scheduled and received in full including back payments and late fees.. I paid the full amount per what was set up by the agent.
Then automatic payments were set up in July.
Then in September, I began to receive calls saying that I was behind on a payment, however, the payments are automatic and the account had been caught up before auto payments were established.
The customer service agent I spoke to in September identified the issue as being in your system and said it would be fixed.
It appears the problem has not been fixed.
The agent I spoke to initially this morning became loud and rude telling me "I didn't need to do math" and to "calm down" He was the one raising his voice, not me. He was very rude and I felt his tone was threatening. The agent continued to escalate, I hung up on him because I felt afraid. I don't know why someone in customer service would speak to a customer that way, especially right before the holiday.
I would request that the conversation I had with the agent in September be listened to, as that agent said the error is in your system, not with my payments. Why was this never fixed? Why would I be receiving calls due to your error?
I would also ask that the payment arrangement that was set up be reviewed and those calls be pulled as well, as stated, payment was made in full during that time, including fees.
Finally, I would ask that the call this morning with the angry agent be reviewed.
I have also sent this information to the BBB for review.
Thank you,
Dana Care

On November 15th, we paid off our Line Of Credit thru 5/3 Bank. They said we should have the payoff letter within 7 to 10 days. I started the process for a refinance of our condo on that same day. After 5 calls to the 5/3 customer service line being told the letter was mailed on December 2 (17 days later) and that I should have it any day. After 25 days, Still no letter, I called again and no help was provided. I then visited my local 5/3 bank to see if they could help, all they could do is request a faxed copy of the letter, so we did that, they said that would take 24 hours... Really? I received a call from our new mortgage company that we had to close in the next three days or lose my rate lock on my interest rate. So, I called 5/3 customer service again and got really angry and upset, I ended up talking to 2 supervisors who said they could not help me. Finally one of them typed up a close letter for me and faxed it to my local 5/3 bank. Here it is 31 days later, still no close letter thru the mail like they said. Their customer service is total BS, nobody cared that I needed the letter to close on my new mortgage and that i may lose my locked in mortgage rate. There was no urgency on their end, I think I ended up calling them about 8 times in 25 days. Terrible, Terrible customer service.

Don't do business with 5/3, , they really don't care about servicing their customers.

My account has never gone unpaid or been late in the 13 years I have had my mortgage, and suddently I am getting lots and lots of calls to remind me to pay my bill ! I asked they not call and even called the main number to complain to be told although there is a 15 day grace period to make your payment but technically payment is due the 1st ... It is funny how I never got these calls until in November I was in a hospital ER and did not pay my payment until that evening (I was not charged a late fee) and suddently this begins-the payment posted that Monday then I had an ugly letter by Tuesday acting like my mortgage was deliquent ! Beacuse I paid it after 5 that day ! I have always paid on my second check of the month and as long as it is within the 15 days it is really none of their business when I pay- Do I have any rights to make this stop ? I would almost like to refinance just not to give them my money after the way I have been treated. I am sure there are many deliquent accounts but they want to pick on a loyal, on time paying customer ?! I am so furious ! I want these calls stopped .

About a couple of months ago, unauthorized charges were made to my checking account to Playstation for "wallet funding" . When I reported these unauthorized charges to Fifth Third's Disputes Department, I was provided with the loss money ($220) in provisional credit while they "investigated" to ensure that the payments were unauthorized as I specified. Apparently, my word wasn't good enough because the disputes for SOME of the charges were denied, resulting in more than $200 being stolen from my paycheck a month later and my account being overdrawn.

The reason they gave me for denying the disputes was that "the merchant, Playstation, offered information proving the charges to be valid."

The information in question, is merely that I had an account with Playstation prior to these charges happening. This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE as the fact that I had an account was never disputed by me, it doesn't prove the charges were valid AT ALL, and it doesn't explain why the dispute for a small portion of the $220 was approved, while the rest of the money was taken from me AGAIN (this time, by the bank). The charges all occurred at the same time; one payment is no more legitimate than the other.

This can ONLY be the result of a LAZY, or downright INCOMPETENT "investigator" in the 53 Disputes Department.

Now, it has been up to 19 days of the 30 days it was stated for this reopened case to be resolved, even after I've provided more than enough info to prove the charges were invalid, yet I'm constantly told over the phone that there's nothing they can do to speed up this investigation which, apparently, only consists of exchanging a few emails with the merchant in question.

With that in mind, why is it taking so long just to look at a few pictures and transfer MY funds back over to me. What more is there to investigate?! All of this money originated in MY ACCOUNT from MY PAYCHECK! The only possible Fraud that is going on is coming from Fifth Third Bank itself!

WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO WAIT UP TO 30 DAYS JUST FOR 53 BANK TO CORRECT ITS OWN MISTAKES, WHILE I'M ON MY LAST DOLLAR?

There's only 3 possible reasons:
1: 53 Bank genuinely DON'T CARE about their customers (EMOTIONAL DISTRESS).
2. 53 Bank hires INCOMPETENT SLACKERS for employees (NEGLIGENCE).
3: 53 Bank has been actively STEALING money from their customers who's very funds they swore to protect and insure (THEFT/EMBEZZLEMENT/FALSE ADVERTISING)

And this isn't even the first time suspicious activity ahs happened with my account.

FIFTH THIRD BANK IS NOTHING MORE THAN FDIC-PROTECTED CRIMINALS. THEY HAVE THE ABSOLUTE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICES AND NOBODY'S SAVINGS SHOULD BE TRUSTED WITH THESE PEOPLE.

AND IF MY MONEY ISN'T GIVEN BACK TO ME WITHIN THE 30 DAYS THEY ALLOTTED, I WILL BE MAKING EFFORTS TO ORGANIZE AND FILE A CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST THEIR COMPANY.

My account is overdrawn and my money is being held a company check a company that verified my account and my money will be held for another week I was told it would be released on Tuesday of the 17th I have never experienced such a poor banking system in my life I banked with wells Fargo and never had this issue I'm a new customer and I get treated like a criminal I will be closing this account and moving elsewhere if this doesn't get resolved asap

My husband And I Filed a Dispute due to unauthorized transactions we saw on our account, we contacted the appropriate department to resolve this matter as soon as we noticed it. Due to this unfortunate event our account is in the negative causing overdraft fees to continually add up. While talking with fifth third bank agents in the Dispute department they came across like they don't care and that we just have to let the fees add up and once they finish their investigations they will return the money and reverse the overdraft fees. My husband and I understand that there is a process but what we don't under Is how slow the process is. How the bank agents have a don't care attitude, and definitely not sympathetic. We have asked if there is ways to add more security to our account on this not happening again and expressed concerned about this not happening in the future due to the fact that it causes extra stress on bills and etc that one may need their bank account for . One agent even said "well ask for money from someone I can't do anything" one even told my husband to just call the company that the unauthorized payment came from cause their not. Customer service is definitely horrible through this whole ordeal . Ready for it to be resolved and may be looking for another financial institution to bank with . Instead of having faith in a bank who claims to make your day a fifth third better the horrible customer service with the dispute department made it worse.

Site says I'm using too many capital letters. I was paid by a client via zelle. It would not work and said I was not signed up for it. Clicked on zelle in the 5/3 app and it said "update your contact method". I thought just perhaps I needed to use my desktop since it would **not** function. I signed in to my bank account from my desktop and recently it's been asking for me to confirm my device, so I did so this time. I still could **not** get zelle to work. I called 5/3 customer service at 8:30 a.m. to get assistance. I was first told since I verified my device I would not be able to set it up for 3 days. I asked for a supervisor. Finally, rep said let me see if I can help you. Then said the system was down. Again, asked for a supervisor. Supervisor states I am locked out of any transfers of funds for ***30***days since I changed my information because of "fraudsters". I asked if I could go to my branch to verify who I am. No!

So, the money I am earning being sent through zelle I will not know if it works or not. I am figuring it will not since to begin with it would not. I went on and changed primary and secondary information. I said I feel I should close my accounts because every time in the past several months no one can do anything for me at Customer Service. She said, I understand. That is fine. So, now I'm waiting for a new debit card from General Electric Credit Union. I have a savings account with them.

I tried Zelle with General Electric Credit Union, but I need a debit card, but at least it will only take 7-10 days to get a debit card instead of 30. I destroyed the first one as I did not want to take money out of the savings account!

The last time I needed something from customer service they were having a retirement party and it was so loud the rep couldn't hear me and I had to wait until the next day. This is not a way to do business.

I have enjoyed having my 5/3 account, but it seems a lot of negative things are going on. I have depended on them for bill pay, and I receive checks paid through bill pay, and they are getting later and later. I had to write letters last month to recipients because payments were late even though I give a few extra days to get the payment.

I just received my first loan booklet from your bank and wanted to pay it up completely. I tried this on Tues August 6 but the computer got tied up and it would not let me register. When I called the service rep, they told me it would take up to 3 days to resolve. I did not hear from them until today, (Aug 12) and missed the call by 2 seconds. When I tried to call back, the person told me that dept was closed and could not get through. I am being charged $2.95 every day and do not feel this is fair. I just want to register, pay off the loan completely and then never be involved with your bank again. It was very difficult to find a customer service email and also difficult to talk to someone there since no one can help me resolve this problem. It is the last time I will be dealing with your bank and will certainly not recommend it to anyone.

Please call me at your earliest convenience
[protected]
My loan account # is [protected]

Anthony Metta

Our loan was sold to Fifth Third Bank and we made a $90, 000 lump sum payment so we could have our loan recasted (lower monthy payment by making lump sum). It took me 4 phone calls and hours of being transferred to different people before I finally found someone who understood what I was asking for. Eventually we received the paper work. We had it notarized and sent it in the self addressed envelope that fifth third sent with it.
Weeks later we called to see if it was received and was told that they would look into it. No return call. We made calls again and was told that the paperwork was incomplete... well all we had to do was sign it and have it notarized so how the heck could it be incomplete? They stated they would resend the paperwork... we never received it so we called again today and was now told that the paperwork was originally never received and also had no record of the recast. Totally incompetent people and the worst customer service. I'll be filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau tomorrow morning. This is the worst financial institution I've ever dealt with!

My name is Leonard Bruce and I live in Jackson Tn. On June 24th I mailed in your form with the SASE and your address printed on the envelope to your 5th third bill pay office and I contacted the bill pay costumer service number on July 10th and no one said that they have received this form in the mail even though I sent it off 13 days ago for my August 5th automatic bill pay for my car loan. I had this happen with June payment and thecheck wasn.t recdeived until the 14th and I paid for this loan again over the phone. The check magically appeared on my bank statement in my bank and I had to pay for this loan twicw and a $15.00 late charge of which it wasn't my fault. Your bank just held my check until they could get this late charge from me with the loan paying for it twice once in June and in July. Never again...I will wait on the bill pay form to kick in and be approved for the August 5th auto loan automatic bill pay draft and I dlo not want to pay this loan for August over the phone again and have the bill pay approval shosw up August the 5th. I cannot afford to pay this loan twice again as I did in June and July. Also you owe me the $15.00 late fee for which you held this check ov er the 15 day limit to get the late fee.

My monthly payment is due on the 2nd of the month. I made my payment over the phone on the 2nd of July. I was told that because it was after 7pm that I would be charged a $35.00 late fee. This is totally ridiculous. No where on my contract does it say that the payment must be made before 7 pm.
I believe this should not be a charge, since my payment was made on the due date.
I have closed out my credit card due to this absurd activity. I'm sure you will be losing alot of customers due to this action.
Carolyn Campbell

5/3 at 1427 West Saginaw, East Lansing, MI 48823 is always understaffed and very very slow. I work in the Frandor shopping area and only get 1/2 hour for lunch which should be plenty of time since it only takes me 2 minutes to get over to the bank. I've been a customer for years and just feel it would be too much of a hassle to change banks, but I'm seriously considering it because the service has caused me to be late coming back from lunch to my job too many times. Most times I'll be one of two customers there but it still takes 15 minutes plus just to do a simple withdrawal. I know I can go to the ATM, but that's often times not working and it will only dispense in $20 increments. I should be able to get customer service though in a timely manner. Typically there will be one person working all 3 drive-through stations, and one person working inside. I've tried going inside before to see if it speeds things up, but it's just as slow. I don't blame the tellers for the short-staffing issue, but I do find fault with them not counting my money back, but rather just handing it to me when I go inside. The money is also always flipped upside down and backwards. I remember the days when the money was counted back and all the bills went in the same direction. I wouldn't complain if this was a one-time deal, but it's an every-time situation. The funny thing is, there's usually hardly any customers there. Like I said it will be me and maybe just one other person waiting. The tellers usually apologize for the wait but never offer a reason as to why. This is very frustrating for a customer.

I was advised my money would be taken out in 45 days. I got the advance 05/28, it hasn't been 30 days. This is my first payroll check. I waited 3 weeks for this check with no help. I literally extended all my bills for this check, my car note, phone bill and gas for work. I have no help. What will i do? I called a week ago the rep advised it would need to be paid on July 12th. So why is my money gone today? I am left with $38.00. I spoke with a supervisor Aaron she advised that she will coach the rep that misinformed me. But what will that do about my money. I could have easily closed my account if I had intentions on not paying, but I had every intention to pay it with my July 5th check. I'll be closing my account if I can't get this resolved.

Every day i regret switching to 5/3 and will NEVER recommend someone to this bank. 5/3 is simply a pathetic bank. First someone hacks my account from one of their local ATM over the limit i had set. At least this is what i was told. I am starting to believe it was an inside job.
Now i called 4 times already to request for my prepaid 360 card to be closed because my wallet was stolen. All 4 reps advised they will get it done though no one has. This is still showing active on my online view.
Then I try to deposit a check at a 5/3 atm but the atm keeps my debit card and check without making a deposit. Stop inside the branch for the lady to say "you werent going to have access to the full check today anyways ". WHAT? thanks to your atm I don't have access for another 5 days to MY money. No credit was given since that should hit the account around the same 5 day wait. No help to me! The worst part is the bank is aware of having a defective ATM yet havent repaired or replaced it. Rep had the audacity to ask if i am ok with paying 30$ for a new card to be overnighted to me. Why would i do that? Correct thing to do was for the
bank to eat the fee and send me a card as the problem was their own ATM. Banking should be the easiest thing to do yet with 5/3 you will always have a headache about something. Once the check i deposit clears, I will gladly leave 5/3 for good!