Fifth Third Bank Achieves Outstanding CRA Rating

Fifth Third Bancorp's Ohio and Michigan banks each have received an "Outstanding" rating on their recent Community Reinvestment Act performance evaluations by the Federal Reserve Bank. This is the first time since 1997 that Fifth Third has been recognized with an outstanding CRA rating.

The outstanding CRA rating is based on three areas of performance - lending, investment and service. According to the Federal Reserve report, the factors supporting the outstanding ratings include: excellent responsiveness to assessment area credit needs; a good record of serving the credit needs of low-income individuals, including very small businesses and; an excellent level of qualified community development investments and grants.

"These outstanding CRA ratings represent an outward acknowledgement of the hard work we continue to do to meet the needs of the communities within our footprint," said George A. Schaefer, Jr., president and CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp.

Also contributing to the outstanding rating were:

- Ohio Charter's $220.7 million in community development loans, up 46 percent from the prior exam.

- Michigan Charter's $779.8 million in community development loans, up 40 percent from the prior exam.

- Ohio's 103 percent increase and Michigan's 34 percent increase in Community Development investments from the prior exam.

- Fifth Third's Homeownership Mobile (eBus,) a self-contained mobile classroom designed to increase understanding and comfort with the homeownership process and to increase lender visibility and develop stronger relationships with community agencies. During 2004, the eBus spent 130 days in Fifth Third markets for a total of 757 hours.

- Fifth Third's Young Bankers Club, a financial literacy project geared to fifth grade students. In 2004, the Young Bankers Club curriculum was rolled out in five schools in Cincinnati with approximately 100 students. In 2005, the program was expanded to 14 schools reaching 600 students.

The Outstanding CRA rating Fifth Third achieved will remain in effect for two years, at which time the Bank will be evaluated again. Fifth Third previously received a "Satisfactory" CRA rating.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $105.2 billion in assets, operates 19 affiliates with 1,123 full-service Banking Centers, including 119 Bank Mart(R) locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,039 Jeanie(R) ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Missouri. The financial strength of Fifth Third's Ohio and Michigan banks continues to be recognized by rating agencies with deposit ratings of AA- and Aa1 from Standard & Poor's and Moody's, respectively. Additionally, Fifth Third Bancorp continues to maintain among the highest short-term ratings available at A-1+ and Prime-1 and is recognized by Moody's with one of the highest senior debt ratings for any U.S. bank holding company of Aa2. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Retail, Commercial, Investment Advisors and Fifth Third Processing Solutions. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of December 31, 2005, has $196 billion in assets under care, of which it manages $33 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Fifth Third's common stock is traded through the NASDAQ(R) National Market System under the symbol "FITB." Member FDIC.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.