At some point in their career, every banker wrestles with the same question: Do we build it, or do we buy it?
Fifth Third made big news this week when the $200 billion bank announced its $10.9 billion acquisition of Comerica, an $80 billion Detroit-based regional that has struggled with recent performance.
Tim Spence, “5/3” CEO, does not view this transformational deal as merely a scale play. In fact, speaking to industry colleagues earlier this week in Chicago, Spence shared his overriding philosophy, “Don’t get big. Get better.”
That’s a rare bit of honesty in an industry that still treats scale like a religion.
Spence’s view is simple, but also kind of ruthless. Start with clarity:
Then ask one hard question: Are we better off building this piece by piece, or writing a giant check and praying the math holds?
At Fifth Third, the results speak louder than theory. Most banks claim to be disciplined acquirers. Spence, in my experience, truly acts like one. When Fifth Third made the move to buy Comerica, it was because the deal fit the bank’s playbook, the right strategic fit with acceptable economics. Comerica made it through the deal-logic gate because it could deliver a faster cash payback and materially higher internal rate of return than organic growth.
For Spence, this notable acquisition wasn’t about old-school empire building. It was about strategic diversification and operational leverage, taking what Fifth Third already does well (core retail deposits, middle-market lending, payments, and productivity tech) and applying it to a strong but underperforming bank.
Some key strategic benefits of the deal:
Banking leaders would be well served to dig deeper into the strategic playbook being executed by Spence and the Fifth Third team. With both management consulting and tech startups in his background, Spence takes a rigorous, data-driven approach to strategy and an execution approach based upon rapid-fire testing and learning.
Fifth Third has been very transparent regarding the results of its high-profile branch expansion into the Southeast. Spence shared that the branches built over the past two years are running at 160% of target. The portfolio, as a whole, is at 190%. From the start of this strategy, market data, performance data, and execution adjustments were made to hone the model to produce the results the bank is seeing today.
For instance, Fifth Third treats branches as both “billboards” and a “feature” of its overall value proposition, which lifts marketing response and customer trust. With the retail system, bankers log in each morning to dashboards powered by 200 machine learning models that surface the 15 most valuable actions of the day, providing a clear focus aimed at moving the performance needle.
Another key move in the 5/3 playbook is embedding great product ideas from innovative fintechs into the bank’s offering as quickly as possible. In fact, Spence and team share this product-rich value proposition as part of their investor presentations.
Source: Fifth Third Investor Relations, 2025 Barclays Conference
While Spence originally came from outside the banking industry, it’s clear that the past decade has provided him with the personal philosophy that “banking is still an operational sport.”
It’s not about slick apps or clever slogans. It’s about how well you execute the daily blocking and tackling: funding, pricing, servicing, marketing, and risk... across thousands of measurable actions.
So, GonzoBankers, last week’s news about the creation of the ninth-largest bank in America is clearly a major signal that merger mania is upon us. But take the time to dig into the strategies of players like Fifth Third and heed Tim Spence’s blunt message to the industry: stop chasing size and start chasing learning at top speed.
Al Dominick is a partner at Cornerstone Advisors. Tune in to Al’s Plugged In podcast and follow him on LinkedIn and X.