Company: FITBI
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000035527-25-000079
Chunk: 405

Company: FIFTH THIRD BANCORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 405
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 adversely affect Fifth Third’s results of operations or future growth prospects and cause Fifth Third to fail to meet its stated goals and expectations.

Industry adoption of real-time payments networks could negatively impact financial performance through reductions in product profitability, increased liquidity reserves and the potential for increased fraud losses, among other risks.

With the launch of real-time payments networks, such as RTP® from The Clearing House and FedNow® from the Federal Reserve, instantaneous cash settlement capabilities are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The implications of the new settlement capabilities are far reaching and have not yet significantly affected the banking industry. As market adoption increases, Fifth Third may be required to hold more liquidity reserves in cash to facilitate cash settlement activity outside of traditional business hours. Additionally, instantaneous settlement will likely reduce float benefits associated with providing deposit and banking services, as well as pose incremental fraud risk due to a reduced ability to reverse fraudulent transactions due to the speed of money movement.

Changes in retail distribution strategies and consumer behavior may adversely impact Fifth Third’s investments in its bank premises and equipment and other assets and may lead to increased expenditures to change its retail distribution channel.

Fifth Third has significant investments in bank premises and equipment for its branch network including its 1,089 full-service banking centers and 102 properties that are developed or in the process of being developed as branches, as well as its retail work force and other branch banking assets. Advances in technology such as e-commerce, telephone, internet and mobile banking and in-branch self-service technologies 

35 Fifth Third Bancorp

including automatic teller machines and other equipment, as well as changing work arrangements and customer preferences for these other methods of accessing Fifth Third’s products and services, could affect the value of Fifth Third’s branch network or other retail distribution assets and may cause it to change its retail distribution strategy, close and/or sell certain branches or parcels of land held for development and restructure or reduce its remaining branches and work force. Further advances in technology and/or changes in customer preferences could have additional changes in Fifth Third’s retail distribution strategy and/or branch network. These actions could lead to losses on these assets or could adversely impact the carrying value of other long-lived assets and may lead to increased expenditures to renovate and reconfigure remaining branches or to otherwise reform its retail distribution channel.

Difficulties in identifying suitable opportunities or combining the operations of acquired entities or assets with Fifth Third’s own operations or assessing the effectiveness of businesses in which Fifth Third makes strategic investments or with which Fifth Third enters into strategic contractual relationships may prevent