Dear Mr. Berko: We bank at Fifth Third Bank and own 1,000 shares of the stock, which you advised us to buy in 2009 at $7.75 a share. I like the stock’s performance, but when I bragged to friends (a retired banker and his wife) about our good fortune ($16,250 profit), both told me to sell the stock because “the scummy management in the home office doesn’t know what the branch offices are doing.” They also bank at Fifth Third. They’d like to change banks, but automatic deposit instructions (from Social Security, dividends, annuities, investment mortgages, royalties, etc.) become too complicated, so they’d wind up missing some payments that would get stuck in limbo. They don’t like Fifth Third’s policy of changing the staff and tellers every few months, as it’s confusing to bank with strangers. We have noticed this, too, and are concerned enough to sell the stock if you say so.
— Confused in Cleveland
Dear Confused in Cleveland: Fifth Third Bank (FITB-$24), headquartered in Cincinnati since 1862, is a $14 billion-asset bank with over 1,250 branch offices. Its niggardly 56-cent dividend yields 2.1 percent, and your banker friend’s complaints are not unusual; FITB seems to be having a management problem.
You alluded to one reason the service and operations at some FITB branches are unacceptable. Neurotic management doesn’t want depositors to become friendly with the branch staff, so about every six months, FITB tellers, managers and other personnel play musical chairs and move to alternate FITB bank locations. Another reason for dinky service is that Cincinnati’s toadeaters keep branch labor costs low with skeletal crews, causing frustratingly long waits for customers making deposits or conducting business.
Go to Google. Enter “complaints Fifth Third Bank” and read from a menu of innumerous grievances, gripes, grumbles and grouses. The extent and range of that content will knock your socks off.
