Fifth Third to hire 200 tech workers this year

Fifth Third Bancorp in Cincinnati will hire another 200 new tech employees this year as it continues to invest in its digital banking capabilities.

Tech employees currently represent about one in every seven of Fifth Third’s Cincinnati-area employees and the new hiring push will increase its tech workforce by about 20%, according to a report by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Technology investments have been a priority for CEO Greg Carmichael since he assumed his post late in 2015, although he has also faced pressure from investors to keep costs down.

Most recently, Fifth Third bought and relaunched the personal finance app Dobot, which automates savings for users. It also recently established a referral partnership with the fintech lender CommonBond to offer its customers a student loan refinancing option. And it built in-house a student loan repayment app, dubbed Momentum.

In making these kinds of investments, Fifth Third has joined a growing number of regional banks that emphasize financial wellness in their digital offerings. Huntington Bancshares, for example, has incorporated artificial intelligence into some of its personal financial management tools, giving customers an early warning when regular bills might clash with spending, for instance.

Fifth Third made a major return to M&A last year when it announced it would buy the Chicago-based MB Financial. That deal closed in late March and gave Fifth Third the No. 4 deposit share in the Chicago market.

Fifth Third is also resuming a pre-crisis plan to build 100 to 125 new bank branches in Southeastern markets like Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, N.C.

The $146 billion-asset Fifth Third will report its first-quarter results Tuesday.