Fifth Third Bank to date has primarily been noteworthy as a credit card issuer only for its no fee 0% 12 month business card. Unfortunately, since it is a regional bank, that offer is only available to residents in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia. Unless you happen to receive a targeted offer, its personal cards (which can be issued to residents of the aforementioned states, along with Kentucky and Wisconsin) all carry balance transfer fees.

What I have just discovered, however, is that Fifth Third has an extensive number of partnerships with local financial institutions, issuing personal cards branded by these local banks. These cards offer 0% on purchases and balance transfers for 6 months with no fees, are quite numerous and apparently can be issued to residents of any state (though this point needs to be verified). These features make these cards viable AOR options, particularly since they are with a unique issuer.

I’ve compiled a partial list of these cards below, in no particular order:

• Sound Community Bank (services Seattle, WA area)
  • Sound Community Bank Platinum Rewards
  • Sound Community Bank Cash Rewards
  • People for Puget Sound co-branded Visa
  • Sequim 2000 co-branded Visa
• The Berkshire Bank (services New York, New Jersey)
  • Berkshire Bank Platinum
  • Berkshire Bank Cash Rewards
• Red River Bank (services Central and Northwest Louisiana)
  • Platinum MasterCard Credit Card
  • Cash Rewards MasterCard Credit Card
• InsurBanc – caters to insurance agents, but anyone can join
  • InsurBanc Visa
• Heritage Credit Union (services Illinois, Wisconsin)
  • Platinum Card
  • Cash Rewards Card
• Advance Financial – services Lake County, Indiana
  • Platinum Visa

There are many more banks that have the same offers, but do not necessarily have online applications. If a name sounds familiar and they’re local, you can try contacting them directly. I’ve listed them here for completeness:

• Avenue Bank
• BancFirst
• Bank of Burlington
• Bank of Cardiff
• Bank of Greene County
• Bank of Maysville
• Bank of Oxford
• Bedford Federal Savings Bank
• Big Island
• Bryant FCU
• Buffalo Federal Savings Bank
• Burke and Herbert Bank
• Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union
• Cathay Bank
• Cayuga Lake National Bank
• Central Willamette FCU
• Church Koinonia Federal Credit Union
• Citizens State Bank
• Credit Union of New Jersey
• Dallas Telco
• El Paseo Bank
• Enterprise Bank and Trust
• FNB Clarksdale
• Farmers State Bank
• First Capital Financial Credit Union
• First Columbia
• First Federal Bank of the Midwest
• First International Bank
• First Niagara Bank
• First Southwest Bank
• Focus One Community Credit Union
• Frontier Bank
• Home Savings Bank
• Kearney Commercial Bank
• Lawrence Firefighters FCU
• Marblehead Bank
• Martin Federal Credit Union
• Metropolitan Capital Bank
• Michigan Heritage Bank
• Middleburg Bank
• NATCO
• Nations Heritage
• New Windsor State Bank
• Perkins State Bank
• Provident Bank
• Redwood Capital Bank
• River Hills Bank
• SECU
• Select
• Sound Community Bank
• South Bank
• Standard Bank
• Sycamore National Bank
• The Citizens National Bank of Woodsfield
• The Waterford Commercial and Savings Bank
• Tri-Co
• Union State Bank of West Salem
• United Kentucky Bank of Pendleton County
• Unity Bank
• Valley Bank
• Wayne Westland FCU
• West Pointe Bank