Two this year, two next: Fifth Third adds new Jacksonville branches (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Two new branch locations are joining Fifth Third Bank’s Jacksonville-area portfolio this summer, part of the bank’s push into markets throughout the Southeast.
The openings, one in St. Johns County Wednesday morning and another in Wildlight by summer’s end, join a collective $1.9 billion investment by the Cincinnati-headquartered financial institution specifically earmarked for regional expansion efforts.
In addition to the two branch openings this summer, Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) plans to deliver three more to the Jacksonville market, including two next year, a spokesperson confirmed.
By 2030, the bank aims to have as many branches in Florida as it does in its home state of Ohio.
Its latest spot at 130 Rivertown Shops Drive in St. Johns spans 2,554 square feet, according to a $2.45 million permit issued by the county in October 2025. The bank will have 17 Jacksonville-area after its next opening in Nassau County.
As of 2025’s end, the bank operated 200 financial centers across the state. Of that, 97 are in North Florida and employ nearly 700 people.
“In the Southeast, our multi-year expansion in high-growth metropolitan areas like Jacksonville continued to deliver results,” Fifth Third Jacksonville City President Ryan Ayres said, “driving deposit and consumer household growth at three to four times the market rate and consequently, peer-leading deposit growth.”
Fifth Third has been on an expansion push this year, on the back of its $10.9 billion merger with Comerica Inc., which created America’s ninth-largest bank.
Of its many markets across 15 states, Jacksonville is one Ayres called “critical” to Fifth Third’s success.
The merger didn’t change much for the city, but it did bring more muscle onto the bank’s corporate team, helping it drive into three new verticals: life science, environmental and dealer finance.
“The bank has made a huge investment in Florida,” Ayres said in February. “With the acquisition of Comerica, it just gives us some more firepower across the nation as well.”