Some of the nation’s largest banks are joining the tax cut Christmas party.
Fifth Third Bank said Wednesday that it is paying bonuses and raising the minimum wage for its workers after the passage of the Republican tax cut law. Wells Fargo said it would raise the minimum wage of its employees and target $400 million in donations to community and nonprofit organizations.
Cincinnati, Ohio-based Fifth Third is the nation’s 13th largest bank by assets. The unusual name of the bank derives from its roots in two Ohio banks that merged in the early Twentieth Century. One was called Third National Bank, the other Fifth National Bank.
Fifth Third said that the tax cut would allow it to pass along gains to its employees. Many employees will receive a special year-end bonus of $1,000. The minimum hourly wage for its employees will rise to $15. Around 75 percent of its workforce will receive a bonus or a pay raise, Fifth Third said.
Wells Fargo is also raising its minimum wage to $15, an 11 percent increase above the $13.50 minimum the company announced in January 2017.
Wells Fargo said that it was also going to increase its philanthropy. The company will target $400 million in giving for 2018, 40 percent higher than 2017. Wells also said that it will aim to give away two percent of its after-tax profits beginning in 2019.
The Wells Fargo and Fifth Third announcements came shortly after AT&T said it would pay bonuses to 200,000 U.S. employees and increase its capital spending program by $1 billion.