Fifth Third Mortgage Lending is Strategic Growth Driver

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 10, 2025--

Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) is opening more doors for homeowners than ever — with smarter mortgage solutions, faster processes, and a customer-first mindset. In 2025 alone, the Bank has originated over $5.2 billion in mortgages, ranking among the top 45 lenders nationally and the top 15 banks. Already a top ten mortgage servicer in the U.S., Fifth Third has increased market share in 90% of its key markets in 2025 — and continues to accelerate its strength and scale in mortgage banking. As Fifth Third prepares for its next chapter of growth, mortgage continues to serve as a cornerstone of customer relationships and regional expansion.

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This week, at HousingWire’s inaugural Mortgage Banking Summit, James Sias, Head of Mortgage Lending and Indirect Dealer Services, remarked: “Mortgage isn’t just a product — it’s the ultimate relationship builder. It’s how we become the one bank our customers most value and trust for life.”

Fifth Third’s commitment to mortgage is backed by data. According to Fifth Third’s internal analysis of new mortgage originations from 2019 through 2023, new households with mortgages are 24% more likely to stay with the Bank than similar checking-only households. In the most recent 2023–2024 cohort, that advantage grew to 31%, reinforcing mortgage as a powerful anchor in the customer relationship.

Fifth Third’s focus on building deep, long-lasting customer relationships — with essential products, personnel, and customer experiences — is driving sustainable organic growth. As Fifth Third expands, particularly across the South, mortgages have helped attract, retain and deepen new households. Over the past 24 months, the Bank has attracted hundreds of millions in incremental deposits through its mortgage relationship pricing program, while advising customers holistically across their full financial picture. The Bank is actively hiring Mortgage Loan Officers in new markets and currently offers more than 35 mortgage products tailored to a wide range of income levels, credit profiles, and geographies.

Fifth Third’s relationship approach to mortgages further evolved under the leadership of Jay Plum. In 2023, Jay Plum was named Head of Consumer Lending and brought in industry veterans James Sias, Chad Powers, and Martin Muff to lead the next chapter of mortgage, home equity and servicing. Plum’s customer-centric philosophy, that “every mortgage customer is a family, not a file,” has taken root across the organization, inspiring new first-time homebuyer education programs, more personalized service, and affordable lending solutions designed to reduce friction and build customer confidence.

“What drew me to Fifth Third wasn’t just where it was — but where it could go,” said Plum. “I saw the potential to build on a solid foundation and help shape something exceptional — and that’s exactly what we’re doing. With the momentum we’ve built and the opportunities ahead, we’re excited about what’s next.”

Under Plum’s leadership, the Bank grew mortgage volume 16% from 2023 to 2024, with a 39% increase in retail and direct. Customer satisfaction also climbed, with internal Net Promoter Scores consistently ranging from 74-83 over the last six months.

Beyond traditional lending, Fifth Third is also innovating in home equity and estate planning. In 2025, demand for Fifth Third’s home equity lending products has been extraordinary, with year-over-year volume up 60%. Fifth Third is also a leader in equitable housing, offering free wills to help families protect their homes and preserve generational wealth. Through its innovative Neighborhood Program, Fifth Third has invested nearly $255 million in economic development across ten neighborhoods — catalyzing transformative change and leading to more housing opportunities across the Bank’s footprint.

At Fifth Third, mortgage isn’t just a business — it’s a key pillar in building life-long banking relationships and helping customers realize their dreams of homeownership.

About Fifth Third

Fifth Third is a bank that’s as long on innovation as it is on history. Since 1858, we’ve been helping individuals, families, businesses and communities grow through smart financial services that improve lives. Our list of firsts is extensive, and it’s one that continues to expand as we explore the intersection of tech-driven innovation, dedicated people and focused community impact. Fifth Third is one of the few U.S.-based banks to have been named among Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies ® for several years. With a commitment to taking care of our customers, employees, communities and shareholders, our goal is not only to be the nation’s highest performing regional bank, but to be the bank people most value and trust.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association is a federally chartered institution. Fifth Third Bancorp is the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank and its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ ® Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB." Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Deposit and credit products provided by Fifth Third Bank, National Association. Member FDIC.

James Sias, Head of Mortgage Lending and Indirect Dealer Services at Fifth Third, speaking at HousingWire's Mortgage Banking Summit. Photography by Wes Ellis.

James Sias, Head of Mortgage Lending and Indirect Dealer Services, onstage at the HousingWire Mortgage Banking Summit. Photography by Wes Ellis.

James Sias, Head of Mortgage Lending and Indirect Dealer Services at Fifth Third onstage with Diego Sanchez, President of HW Media, at HousingWire's Mortgage Banking Summit. Photography by Wes Ellis.

Three more cases of the New World screwworm have been confirmed, including one outside the main cluster in Texas, demonstrating the difficulty of stopping a resurgent pest that could devastate the nation's cattle industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.

The screwworm is actually a fly larva that eats living flesh instead of dead material. The flies lay their eggs in open wounds of animals like cattle, but wildlife, pets and occasionally even humans can be infested. The government has a program to breed sterile male flies and drop swarms of them from planes to mate with wild females, which kept screwworm contained at the southern end of Panama for decades.

So far, there are five confirmed cases: three calves and a goat in Texas and a dog from neighboring Lea County, New Mexico. The small dog, which the USDA initially reported as a Texas case, lives in New Mexico and was reclassified as the first in that state.

The dog had not traveled to Mexico or Texas, so authorities were investigating around the property where the pet lived. If they find infected flies, animal inspections in the area will increase, New Mexico State Veterinarian Samantha Holeck said during a virtual news conference Monday.

The first two screwworm cases were discovered last week in calves a few miles apart in south Texas. A case was announced Monday in a calf in La Salle County, southwest of San Antonio, and in a goat in Gillespie County, west of Austin.

In each case, officials have set up a 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone to try to slow the parasite's advance.

Along with cattle and other warm-blooded livestock, scientists worry screwworms could devastate the millions of wild white-tailed deer in Texas.

Scientists expect new cases could pop up in the coming days and weeks, but it doesn't mean screwworm is spreading rapidly, said Edward Burgess, a University of Florida entomologist who studies the fly.

“When that first case is seen, everyone is being vigilant and their eyes are on it more intensely,” Burgess said. “And when you are looking for something, you are more likely to see it.”

Screwworm gets its name from the maggots’ habit of burrowing — or screwing — into a wound, according to the USDA. The pest eats the flesh of the animal, further opening wounds and increasing the risk of deadly bacterial infections. Animals can die within a few weeks if not treated. There are a dozen government-approved medications to treat livestock.

The agency and the U.S. cattle industry have been racing to prevent an outbreak since screwworm was detected in Mexico late in 2024. The USDA has been dropping sterile flies in south Texas since February and is working to both increase sterile fly production in plants outside the U.S. and build a $750 million fly factory in Texas.

So far, screwworm's reappearance hasn’t greatly affected beef prices, which are already near record levels because there are fewer cows in the United States. Although the parasite attacks live cattle, it does not infest meat or fruit.

Canada temporarily stopped importing cattle, horses or other livestock from Texas on Friday. The parasites prefer humid areas where temperatures are at least 77 F (25 C), making them more of a summer problem up north.

Burgess said the long-term solution — breeding sterile male flies — is months away. Since wild female flies mate just once, if that encounter is with a sterile male, outbreaks can eventually be halted as the flies die out.

The goal is to have enough sterile flies to stop the pests from returning in 2027 after the winter kills off most of them, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins said at a news conference at the U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas.

Scientists are also working on ways to sterilize only male flies to make the program even more effective.

Texas officials encouraged ranchers to keep a close eye on their herds and local wildlife. There's now a 24-hour screwworm hotline and a website and map for reported cases.

“This is a highly treatable condition if you act on it immediately,” Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said.

However, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller — who lost the recent Republican primary to a candidate backed by Abbott — said the federal response will take too long and risks crippling the cattle industry.

Instead, he says a poison bait could eliminate the screwworm problem in a few months, even if the USDA and other experts say the bait hasn’t been proven effective and could poison other flies, animals and even humans.

“What the hell is a good fly?” Miller said in an interview.

This story has been updated to reflect that the USDA revised the dog screwworm case to New Mexico, not Texas as the agency initially reported, and to correct the spelling of Kerrville.

Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Scott McFetridge in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Signage is seen as U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins holds a news conference at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, center, holds a news conference with ranchers, researchers and officials at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

A ranchers arrivse for a news conference with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, Texas, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FILE - A test container of dyed fly pupae are displayed at a Domestic New World Screwworm Sterile Fly Production Facility to combat the northward spread of NWS and protect American livestock, in Edinburg, Texas, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - An adult New World screwworm fly sits in this undated photo. (Denise Bonilla/U.S. Department of Agriculture via AP)