Fifth Third and First Mercantile Partner Up

April 4, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fifth Third Bank of Cincinnati, Ohio has chosen First Mercantile as its partner in providing Retirement Direct, the bank's 401(k) targeted at small and medium sized companies.

The Retirement Direct program is a an online retirement program that allows all plan activity, including deposit processing, reporting, and participant account activity, to be conducted on a secure, password-protected Internet site.

Plan sponsors will also receive a variety of management reports on their plans via e-mail from First Mercantile.

First Mercantile will provide daily recordkeeping, administration, and investment services through the Retirement Direct platform, according to a news release from the company.

Fifth Third defined contribution plan sponsor clients and their participants will be able to enroll, view account balances, access customized reports, access employee education material and make changes to investment selections and deferral amounts at a customized Web site.

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