Fifth Third’s Social Security card change puts $3.6 billion Direct Express deposit base in play
Fifth Third Bancorp is set to take on a stubborn part of U.S. benefit payments, picking up millions of Direct Express debit-card users as Social Security ends paper checks. Comerica had issued the cards. Now, those accounts are moving to Fifth Third. Investors are focused on the federal payment flow at stake in the card replacement, not just the story as a retiree service. The core issue: a low-cost deposit base and a fee stream, but heavy servicing costs. If the handoff fails, this customer group could trigger high fraud and spike call-center risk.