Fifth Third Bancorp at BancAnalysts Association of Boston Conference Summary

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : Thank you, Jamie. We'll start with a question for you. What are the key characteristics you look for in a new market? And sticking with the theme for the conference of scale, what does it take to achieve scale in some of those newer markets?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : And you mentioned earlier, you have Midwest peers, Mid-Atlantic peers also expanding in the Southeast. How much are you seeing them in the market? Are you starting to bump into them when you look at new sites?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : A question for Bryan. You had one of the higher up betas during the rate hike cycle, how are deposits tracking after the September hike, what are your thoughts after yesterday's news and just overall how our deposit balances holding up?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : And then the deposit growth in the Southeast led to an elevated liquidity position? How long do you think? How do you long you see yourself maintaining that position? And what's the longer-term appropriate cash balance for Fifth Third?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : Moving on to the health of your consumers. What are you seeing in your deposit data as it relates to the consumer?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. And your fourth quarter guidance for average loan growth, stable to up 1%. What will be the catalyst for those borrowers? We've had rate cuts, the elections now are behind us. What are your thoughts there?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : Maybe one more question, and then we'll open it up to the audience. We talked about both sides of the balance sheet. Are you positioned for record net interest income in 2025? And how should we think about the repricing of fixed rate assets, which have helped 2024? How much of a benefit do you get next year?

Question: Terence McEvoy - Stephens, Inc. - Analyst : Questions? Hold on one second. Unidentified Participant Jamie, Bryan, when you think about the build-out in the Southeast from an organic perspective, the prior presentation, they talked about valuations to acquire not making sense at this point. Maybe just talk a little bit about how you think about build versus buy within the Southeast.