Latest news with #ErinCrawford
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fifth Third gives customers free access to wills
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Fifth Third is offering its customers the ability to create wills at no charge, beginning Monday, through an expansion of the bank's partnership with digital estate planning platform Trust & Will. The Cincinnati-based regional lender, which says it's the first bank to offer the service for free, has partnered with Trust & Will for about six years. The move reflects the bank's aims to both bolster the benefits it offers customers and do more with its fintech partners to differentiate among competitors. 'We see a need in the space, and it's sort of a niche space, because it's not like an everyday banking thing,' said Erin Crawford, head of consumer digital – payments and money management at Fifth Third. In her role, Crawford is particularly focused on customers' financial wellness; she pointed to other bank products and services enabling Fifth Third's customers to get paid early or save for their goals. In considering 'the whole picture of the customer,' the $212 billion-asset bank is 'constantly thinking about, what's that extra benefit that's going to boost the foundation of our product?' she said. Crawford declined to comment on what kind of cost the bank is bearing to offer the service to customers at no charge. But amid intense competition for customers and deposits, the service is another bid to draw in and fortify ties with clients, she said. 'The benefit for us is building and deepening relationships with customers,' she said. 'We're really focused on trying to deepen and protect, and I think this is another lever that helps us do that.' In the first quarter, Fifth Third reported core deposits were stable, supported by 2% total household growth, compared to the first quarter of 2024, and 5% growth in the Southeast, where it's making a concerted push to expand. The bank is an investor in Trust & Will, and the partnership between the two has allowed Fifth Third customers to access trust and will services at a discount since 2020. Since data have indicated there can be a cost barrier to creating a will, making the service free seemed like a natural move to help more people draft wills, regardless of their asset class or demographic, Crawford said. 'Over the course of our partnership with Trust & Will, we've been able to get a better understanding of why some customers don't take advantage of the discount. We concluded that cost may be a barrier to entry so began developing the free offer,' she said. The bank is expecting thousands of customers will initially take advantage of the new offer. 'The more customers engage with this service, the more feedback we gain which can drive new opportunities for our partnership with Trust & Will.' Crawford noted other partnerships the bank has, such as with TurboTax to help customers during tax season. 'We're constantly thinking about, if there's partnerships with different companies, to be able to reduce costs for our customers,' she said. Beginning Monday, Fifth Third customers can draft an individual or couple's will at no charge, or can apply a $299 credit toward a single or joint trust, with the will included in that trust plan, a bank spokesperson said. Additionally, the bank seeks to push the limits of its fintech partnerships, to find out what else the lender can offer customers, she said. 'There's a lot of fintech partnerships where we're trying to push on our partners and say, what can you do with us, to make us a differentiator?' she said. Fifth Third is working on more in the financial wellness space, Crawford noted, including offering better visualization of customers' spending so they can manage it more easily, and 'experiences' to help customers in delinquency stay on top and pay off their debt. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
19-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Fifth Third Bank is giving its customers free wills
An estate plan is a critical part of preparing for the future, but less than a third of Americans say they have a will. Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank is working to change that by offering all of its customers free wills from online provider Trust & Will. None Fifth Third Bank operates 1,100 branches in 11 states: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia No minimum balance $0 Monthly Service Fee Fifth Third Bank has a network of 2,400 ATMs and is linked to a network of partner ATMs across the U.S.. Fifth Third checking accounts offer overdraft protection for checks, bills and ACH payments. The fee for other overdrafts is $37 per item. Momentum checking accounts come with Fifth Third Extra Time, which allows you to avoid the fee by making a deposit bringing your account current before midnight ET the business day after your account is overdrawn. Yes All Fifth Third customers — deposit, small business and loan accounts — can access Trust & Will's guided online platform and create a free state-specific, attorney-approved will in less than an hour. Dying without a will can lead to a lengthy and expensive probate court process, during which funds are unavailable for funeral costs, medical bills and other essential expenses. It also means any assets will be distributed according to your state's intestacy laws, which might not align with your wishes. "We saw a definite need," Erin Crawford, head of the consumer payments and money management teams at Fifth Third, told CNBC Select. "We're giving our customers peace of mind by knowing that if something happened to them, everything their loved ones need is protected." $199 for an individual will, $299 for a joint will; $499 for an individual trust, $599 for a joint trust Wills, living wills, power of attorney, trusts Yes, costs $299 Online willmaker Trust & Will offers an easy-to-follow question-and-answer format and access to attorneys who can provide a line-by-line review or advise on estate and tax planning topics. You can print your documents or have them shipped to you. Wills from Trust & Will, one of CNBC Select's top picks for online will-makers, usually start at $199. The free offer is good for individual or joint wills in the 11 states where Fifth Third operates. As an alternative, the bank is also offering a $299 credit toward a Trust & Will living trust. A trust can provide more privacy and settle an estate faster than a will since it bypasses the probate process. "Every family deserves peace of mind," Trust & Will CEO Cody Barbo said in a statement. "Our mission is to make estate planning accessible to all and this partnership brings us one step closer to that goal."Find out more about Fifth Third's free offer here. At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every personal finance article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
