“Can a traditional regional bank become the sponsor-bank-of-choice for embedded finance via Newline while modernizing its own commercial products by outsourcing to fintechs like Brex?”
Fifth Third is a 1858-founded Cincinnati-headquartered national bank that has leaned aggressively into embedded finance over the past three years. Through its Newline platform, it offers ACH/RTP and deposit infrastructure to fintechs including Trustly and Stripe (which uses Fifth Third as the issuing bank for its Stripe Checking Account product). In late 2025 it outsourced its $5.6B commercial card program to Brex Embedded, converting an in-house card product into a fintech-powered one, while simultaneously pursuing scale via the Comerica acquisition.
Fifth Third discloses Newline by Fifth Third (in-house) as its banking provider, with Fifth Third Bank, National Association (in-house) as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Fifth Third does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Fifth Third Bank, National Association (in-house).
Fifth Third processes payments through Fifth Third Merchant Services (in-house). Disclosed money-movement rails: ACH and RTP.
Fifth Third's lending and capital products are provided by Fifth Third (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 6 layers in Fifth Third's stack: Payments / PSP (Fifth Third Merchant Services (in-house)); Money movement (ACH and RTP); Banking / BaaS (Newline by Fifth Third (in-house)); Lending (Fifth Third (in-house), Fifth Third for Business lending, Commercial lending and Mortgage loans); Sponsor bank (Fifth Third Bank, National Association (in-house)); Spend / AP (Brex).
Fifth Third is founded in 1858 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S..
Fifth Third's acquisitions include Comerica (2025).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Fifth Third and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.