Lawsuit: Fifth Third Bank refused to cash a black woman's check

When we contacted Fifth Third Bank, we learned that the Cincinnati-based company (Number two in the midwest! Seventy billion in assets!) was formed in 1906 from the merger of the Fifth National Bank and the Third National Bank.

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Interesting. Folks i know from Ohio have always told me that it was because the original building was at the corner of 5th and 3rd streets in Cincinnati. Your explanation makes more sense.

It is hard to believe…

that the bank’s name is Fifth Third Bank.

The racism and bigotry is easy to believe.

I used to manage a bank, so I can tell you right now: you are absolutely correct, the account can be set up and the check deposited with a hold on it until it clears. As it was a local casino, a quick call to the casino might occur, to clear the deposit quicker.

There is one and only one reason why this potential customer was treated like that.

Oh, and for the record, there are lots of regulations (Community Reinvestment Act, etc.) banks have to follow to compensate for historical bigotry, so this is many levels of wrong.

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Exactly. From the story it didn’t sound like she was trying to immediately make a withdrawal on the check, so there was no reason except racism for the bank employees to act as they did.

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Thanks for the insight!

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Holy shit, your right! When did they steal my Pedant Pendant and why didn’t anyone stop them?

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Because people were trying to get it and it’s probably best not to reward topic derailers.

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I had this happen to me in Ohio. Cashed out my 401k, tried to cash the check at my bank, and they denied me, sent me a letter saying that they suspect it to be fraud. A bank that I have banked with for over 10 years.

One time, I had a rather large settlement check, while they (same bank) did deposit it, I was pulled into the back office and asked questions about its origination. Once I told them it was a settlement for racial discrimination, the questions relaxed a bit.

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