Fifth Third expands in North Florida with Wildlight location (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — One of Florida’s most popular banks is growing in Nassau County, with plans to add a branch to the Wildlight neighborhood.
Ohio-based Fifth Third Bank, which last month brought on a new executive to spearhead North Florida growth, was issued a permit by the St. Johns River Water Management District for construction of its nearly one acre project June 30.
The branch is planned for construction at 0 Homegrown Way, just east of Interstate 95 and north of State Road 200. The project will include construction an approximately 2,400-square-foot branch building and an attached drive-thru, according to filed civil plans.
The civil engineer is Infinity Engineering Group LLC and the architect is BDG Architects.
It’s bank’s second North Florida region foray in the past three months — the other being a 2,554-square-foot branch planned for the Shoppes at Rivertown in St. Johns.
The Cincinnati-based bank has doubled down on its Sunshine State market in recent months, bringing on two new executives to spur its strategic expansion. It named Scott Daigle as North Florida region president June 2.
Eight days later, it appointed Orlando banking veteran Marty McAndrew to a newly created statewide role of market president and commercial banking head.
Fifth Third is currently on track to have more branch locations in Florida than its home state of Ohio by 2028. The bank has opened 37 branches in the state since 2022 and plans to add 72 more by the end of 2028, part of a broader plan to add 200 locations in the region.
It currently operates 186 throughout Florida, including 97 full-service banking centers in North Florida which employ nearly 700 people locally.
In March, Fifth Third was named the top bank in Florida for customer satisfaction in retail banking, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study — marking the second consecutive year the institution has earned the distinction.