The Fifth Third Bank branch at 7160 N. First St. in Northeast Fresno, depicted in a photo illustration by Cecilia Lopez. The building previously housed a Chase Bank branch.
A Cincinnati bank with nearly $300 billion in assets chose Fresno to launch its California expansion. Fifth Third Bank opened its first Golden State branch this week, the opening salvo in a planned 85-branch statewide buildout.
The branch at 7160 N. First St. occupies a 4,950-square-foot space — the former home of Chase Bank — and represents the bank’s first retail presence in a state where it already has a growing commercial banking footprint. Fifth Third expanded its Central Valley commercial team in 2025 and added a second office in the region.
The new branch is designed around what the bank calls an integrated model: walk-in service from local bankers alongside access to Fifth Third’s mobile app and Momentum Banking platform, meant to allow customers to handle routine transactions or have more in-depth financial conversations in the same space.
The Fresno branch is also the first Fifth Third-branded location ahead of a larger conversion: later this year, the bank plans to rebrand the California branches it inherited through its February merger with Comerica Inc. into Fifth Third locations. That deal, which created the ninth-largest bank in the country, added significant California retail infrastructure to Fifth Third’s portfolio — Comerica had long operated branches in Fresno and across the state. The combined institution holds about $294 billion in total assets.
“Fresno is a city rooted in possibility — a vibrant hub at the heart of California’s Central Valley where growth and agricultural innovation intersect,” said Geraud Smith, Fifth Third’s region president for Northern California. “Opening our first California financial center here reflects both our confidence in Fresno’s momentum and our dedication to bringing clients — from commercial to consumer — modern, intuitive banking solutions that help them thrive.”
Smith brings decades of banking experience to the role, including 20 years as a regional manager with Wells Fargo. He also previously worked with Tri Counties Bank, Illume Agriculture and Valley Republic Bank.
Fifth Third has made a notable push into Central Valley agriculture, serving as lead lender on financing for two large vertically integrated agriculture companies and booking roughly $400 million in commitments this year. The bank has also joined as an associate member of the American Pistachio Growers, Western Growers Association and the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California, and is a corporate partner of Ag One at Fresno State.
The bank’s California expansion is part of a broader national growth strategy. Fifth Third says its new branches opened in 2024 and 2025 averaged $25 million in deposits in their first year, hitting 200 percent of deposit targets and reaching profitability within three years. The bank uses proprietary data tools — including geospatial analysis and anonymized mobility data — to identify branch locations, a methodology it says allowed it to lock up 200 Southeast locations planned through 2028.
Fifth Third was founded in 1858 and operates more than 1,100 branches nationally.
The bank’s “Fifth Third” moniker dates to 1908, when Cincinnati’s Fifth National Bank and Third National Bank merged. Though Third National was the larger of the two, legend has it that management deliberately put “Fifth” first — “Third Fifth” sounded a little too much like a liquor order during an era when the Prohibition movement was gaining steam.