Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company. The company has $104.6 billion in assets and operates 19 affiliates with 1,106 full-service Banking Centers. 

Fifth Third has 135 locations in metro Chicago and northwest Indiana and holds 103.7 billion in assets.

The Cincinnati-based bank moved its Chicago headquarters from Rolling Meadows to 222 S. Riverside Plaza, just west of the loop, where employees are now working out of the new 1,500-square-foot space.  Plans are also underway to open a 4,000-square-foot retail bank branch on the ground floor of the building.

The bank decided to move downtown in order to tap into a wider pool of employees and better serve its dispersed customer base. 

“Our strategy is to build a ubiquitous network in Chicago,” said Terry Zink, Fifth Third’s Chicago-area CEO.  “People will tell you a lot of times they choose their banks because of convenience.”

Fifth Third is hiring numerous commercial lenders and advisers to bring in new business.  The company employs 225 commercial lenders here, up from 48 three years ago and plans to add about 40 more by the middle of next year.  By 2010 the company plans to employ around 3,500 in the Chicago area, up from today’s 2,100.