Spotlight On: Stephanie Green, South Florida Region President, Fifth Third Bank
March 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Stephanie Green, South Florida regional president at Fifth Third Bank, discussed the bank’s expansion, innovation, and community engagement. She highlighted the bank’s commitment to growth, stating, “This remains a top priority, ensuring we’re positioned to serve the businesses and individuals driving the region’s future.”
How is Fifth Third approaching growth and expansion in South Florida?
For us, South Florida includes the entire metropolitan statistical area (MSA) — Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.
When I arrived a year and a half ago, we had nine branches. Today, our number has grown to 21; by 2025, we expect 35, and by 2026, at least 50.
In Miami, we’ve made significant moves, including relocating our corporate office from Brickell to Doral. Since then, we’ve doubled our team size.
Our Miami team includes commercial middle-market and treasury management groups and is expanding with wealth management, offering a full suite of financial services. However, growth in Miami differs from Palm Beach and Broward due to limited land availability. While specific plans are still in progress, we’re actively evaluating branch expansion in Miami.
Beyond branches, we’re aggressively growing our corporate banking team, bringing in top talent as quickly as possible. It’s exciting to build this business — essentially a startup on Florida’s east coast. While Fifth Third has been in Southwest Florida for 33 years, our Southeast Florida growth has accelerated only in the last three to five years.
For context, we hold the No. 1 market share in deposits and locations in Southwest Florida. Our goal is to replicate that success in Southeast Florida — Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach — just as we have in Sarasota, Naples, and Marco Island. That vision serves as our North Star.
What makes South Florida a key market for growth and investment?
Miami is a gateway to the global economy. The $9 billion in infrastructure improvements currently underway support about 700,000 jobs. Combined with Miami International Airport — one of the busiest in the country — this fuels strong growth.
Miami continues to attract people and businesses from around the world. We’ve seen major industries relocating from traditional financial and tech hubs like San Francisco and New York. The city is rapidly becoming a center for finance and technology, aligning perfectly with our strategic goals.
Fifth Third is committed to South Florida because of its rapid population and industry growth. Over the next five years, we will continue expanding, just as we have over the past five. This remains a top priority, ensuring we’re positioned to serve the businesses and individuals driving the region’s future.
How does Fifth Third approach community engagement and social impact?
Community engagement is central to who we are. Strong businesses rely on strong communities, and we’re committed to supporting the places where our customers and employees live, work, and play.
In Miami, we partner with Chapman Partnership, which provides comprehensive programs to help individuals transition out of homelessness. We have a team member on Chapman’s board and are collaborating on permanent housing initiatives to address affordability challenges. Beyond construction, we’re working to support long-term stability through programming. Alfredo Rossano, our Miami-Dade team lead, is spearheading this initiative.
We also work closely with the YWCA and YMCA. We’ve been a multiyear supporter of the First But Not the Last event, which honors leaders making a difference. Our contributions go beyond financial support — our employees actively volunteer to sustain these programs. Similarly, our partnership with the YMCA is growing, starting with the MLK Luncheon and expanding into community development initiatives.
Additionally, I serve on the board of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, which is focused on fostering a sustainable and competitive local economy. With new leadership, we expect these efforts to expand significantly.
Our commitment extends beyond donations; our employees contributed nearly 5,000 volunteer hours in South Florida last year. Many organizations struggle with manpower, and we step in to help. As we grow, we remain dedicated to uplifting the communities we serve — what we call lifting as we climb.
How is Fifth Third fostering innovation to enhance banking services?
Fifth Third is widely recognized for its advancements in technology and innovation. Rather than competing with fintech, we integrate it into our operations to serve clients better.
For example, we acquired Provide, a fintech specializing in financing small healthcare businesses like dental and veterinary clinics. Initially operating separately, Provide is now fully embedded into our small business lending platform. This integration has streamlined the process, reducing approval times from 30 days to just two-and-a-half.
In embedded payments, Newline by Fifth Third strengthens our innovative payments capabilities and ensures businesses can access the latest in embedded finance technology.
Our approach is simple — if a fintech solution enhances the client experience, we seek to partner with or acquire it. Technology is reshaping banking, and we are committed to integrating the best solutions to expand and improve our offerings.
How is Fifth Third leveraging AI to enhance operations?
We recently adopted Copilot, an AI tool designed to enhance employee productivity across the bank. While the bank has been utilizing AI behind the scenes for some time — improving client interactions on our website and mobile app, reducing response times for customer inquiries, and streamlining complaint resolution — this marks a major step in bringing AI directly to our workforce.
The goal is to help employees work more efficiently by automating technical tasks and providing AI-driven support in their daily operations. We’ve seen many organizations embracing AI, and rolling it out internally has been an interesting and valuable experiment for us.
How do you view the current economic landscape and its potential impact on businesses?
Every economist has a different take — one predicts one outcome, another something entirely different. No one gets it exactly right.
Before the election, I expected that once the results were known, there would be more certainty and less volatility. However, that didn’t happen. We’re still in the early stages of this administration, with executive orders and potential tariffs that could impact the Fed’s rate decisions. Many unknowns remain, and we don’t yet have clear answers.
That said, Fifth Third remains cautiously optimistic. Business clients are hopeful for a more moderate regulatory environment, but we’re watching risks — especially tariffs, which have been discussed but not fully implemented.
If rates stay higher for longer, consumers may feel more financial strain. Credit card balances are up, but this is not 2008 or 2009 — the banking sector is much stronger. While volatility will continue, we still see a positive long-term trajectory.
External factors — like geopolitical tensions — could shift the outlook quickly. Some issues may be resolved in weeks, while others escalate unpredictably. Until there’s more clarity, we must stay vigilant — monitoring businesses’ responses to higher rates, hiring shifts, and investment decisions.
At the end of the day, no one has all the answers. There are many moving parts, and until things settle, our focus remains on supporting clients and helping them navigate what’s ahead.
How does Fifth Third leverage economic insights to support its clients?
A key differentiator for us is providing middle-market businesses with proprietary economic insights. Through our partnership with the UNC Kenan Institute, we deliver advanced data and intelligence to help businesses make informed decisions.
We host discussions with our economists and UNC experts, offering real-time analysis of economic trends and their impact. This information helps companies navigate market shifts and plan for the future — adding value beyond traditional banking.
What are Fifth Third’s top priorities for the future?
Our three main priorities are continued stability, profitability, and growth.
While expanding, we focus on aligning with the right businesses and supporting communities in meaningful ways. Growth for the sake of growth isn’t our goal — we want mutually beneficial business relationships.
Stability is also key. Fifth Third has been strong for more than 166 years, with leadership successfully navigating economic challenges, including the 2008-2009 crisis. As we grow, maintaining that strength remains critical.
South Florida plays a major role in our overall strategy. With an influx of people and businesses, it offers significant opportunities compared to more established markets. Our region is expected to drive a large share of the bank’s overall growth, and we take that responsibility seriously.
By staying focused on these priorities, we can continue building a strong business while investing in the communities we serve.
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