Comerica customers report account access issues after Fifth Third merger

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A merger that has been months in the making happened on Tuesday as Comerica Bank has become Fifth Third. A transition of 300 branches and 600,000 accounts changed overnight, leaving some customers struggling to access their accounts.

Big picture view:

This Fifth Third Bank at Southfield and 12 is one of the 300 branches which used to be a Comerica. FOX 2 spoke with one man here who says he learned of the change as he rode his bike up and noticed it was no longer a Comerica, and he says others were already here having issues getting to their money.

FOX 2 spoke with a number of bank customers who described a crowded lobby, high wait times online and on the phone. Some were told to try again Wednesday. All of this is the result of Comerica customers being transferred to the Fifth Third platform.

It’s a merger that has been nearly a year in the making. From the bank’s perspective, they tell FOX 2 they have been working for months to get customers prepared for the changeover.

They say that is why they chose this day, after the Labor Day holiday, to make the changeover, bringing on extra staff.

Local perspective:

Still, one customer FOX 2 spoke with says she still can’t get full access to all her accounts and will try again tomorrow, despite spending all day today trying.

"My entire day is starting at 9 o’clock physically driving to the branch," said customer Jan Berman. "Saw these people working really hard. They were so stressed. They were so frustrated. I saw the people online. Some of them older people are afraid when they can’t access their money and they couldn’t. What could they say to them? They had nothing to report. They couldn’t help. I think they helped the best they could."

"I would say that if you have issues, go to a branch. They can help you, so hopefully between the 800 number, the branch, if you’re a commercial customer, reach out to your relationship manager, and they’ll be able to get you taken care of," said Fifth Third Regional President Steve Davis. "Just to quell concerns for those who were old Comerica and now Fifth Third, they still have access to their money. It didn’t go anywhere, right? Their money is safe. They are still going to have access to all of it, but we want to make sure that everything is up and running. We believe that once we get past this kind of conversion, we can have better experiences, better safeguards, low- and no-cost checking and saving. Those things take a few days, and we are working hard to get them through that."

What's next:

FOX 2 was told all customers still have the ability to use their debit cards during this period.

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