Fifth Third SCRA: 6% Cap, All Fees Waived, One Specialist Line

Fifth Third publishes its SCRA program in an odd place: a customer-service page titled “Military Banking and Journalists FAQs,” with the same answers repeated on its Military Checking page (both read on 53.com, August 2026). Wherever it lives, the content is specific. The bank names an SCRA Specialist desk, an email box, a fax, and a Grand Rapids mailing address, and it makes one promise the statute does not require in those words: for a mortgage, loan, line of credit, or credit card opened before you were called to active duty, “the Bank will waive all fees while you are on active military service.”

The rate is the statutory 6%, no lower. On an $18,000 pre-service card at 24%, that cap forgives about $3,240 a year, credited back to your active-duty start date under § 3937. Run your own numbers in the savings calculator.

What Fifth Third puts in writing

The eligibility list on the page tracks the statute: active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard including activated reservists, National Guard on federal orders for 30 consecutive days or more, and commissioned officers of NOAA and the Public Health Service. Fifth Third’s page also mentions foreclosure and repossession protection, which sits in § 3953, and it points you to the same 1-877 number for it.

Getting the 6% and the fee waiver applied

File your SCRA request with Fifth Third

1. List every Fifth Third account opened before your active-duty start date: mortgage, auto or personal loan, line of credit, credit card, including any held jointly with your spouse.
2. Call 1-877-899-0815, option 3 (international: 513-358-4803, option 3) to reach an SCRA Specialist, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, or send a message any time through the online Message Center. Ask for the fee waiver by name, not just the rate.
3. Put the request in writing with a copy of your orders: email SCRA@53.com, fax 616-653-2429, or mail Fifth Third Bank - SCRA Specialist, 1830 East Paris, MD RSCB3E, Grand Rapids, MI 49546. The letter generator drafts a § 3937 request that lists each account.
4. Fifth Third states no processing time, so ask the specialist for a target date and note the name and the call date.
5. Check the next two statements for the 6% rate, the retroactive credit to your duty start date, and zero fees. If the rate moved but a fee still posted, reply to the same desk citing its own “waive all fees” language.

Where Fifth Third borrowers lose the cap

The fee waiver is a separate ask. The statute already folds service charges and fees into the 6% ceiling (§ 3937(d)); Fifth Third’s page goes further and says it waives all fees on pre-service accounts during active duty. A representative processing a rate change may not touch the fee schedule unless you raise it. Name it on the call and in the letter, and watch for late, over-limit, and annual fees on the first statement after the change.

Email is the bank’s own invitation, but the page says nothing about encryption. Fifth Third lists SCRA@53.com as a channel for orders, and orders carry personal identifiers. If that bothers you, fax or mail with proof of delivery gets the same result. Whatever channel you use, keep a copy and the date.

No published timeline means you set the clock. Fifth Third does not say how long the review takes. Two statement cycles with no change is your signal to refile and, if needed, run the denial escalation. If you already left active duty, the written request still has to arrive within 180 days of your release date under § 3937(b), per the deadlines guide; a late request forfeits the retroactive refund.

Military Checking is a different program. The no-monthly-fee Military Checking account and the Military Team that answers 1-877-899-0815 around the clock are deposit-side perks for anyone with a military ID or DD214. They do not trigger the SCRA cap on your loans, and having a plain Fifth Third checking account does not stop you from claiming it. See how Fifth Third’s terms stack against other lenders on the bank leaderboard, and if you are choosing where to bank before you ship, read the best bank for military guide.

The law behind this: 50 U.S.C. § 3937

Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service: read the statute.