Fifth Third Bank has inked a deal with US fintech Brex to power its new corporate card offering.
The deal will enable Fifth Third’s commercial clients to access Brex’s financial platform to issue the Fifth Third Commercial Card to employees, automate expense management, make real-time payments, and utilise AI agents throughout a variety of workflow processes.
Brex’s platform will be rolled out across all markets where Fifth Third operates, providing the fintech with “access to roughly 8% of the US commercial banking sector through a single partner”, according to Pedro Franceschi, the company’s CEO.
Currently, Ohio-headquartered Fifth Third’s presence is primarily concentrated in the US Midwest. However, the bank has shown its intent to expand, especially into the Southeast, hiring former M&T CFO Darren King as head of regional banking in April before acquiring Texas-based Comerica Bank in a blockbuster $10.9 billion deal in October.
Following the deal, more than half of Fifth Third’s branches are expected to be located in the Southeast, Texas, Arizona, and California by 2030.
The new agreement with Brex marks the second move by Fifth Third in a matter of months to bolster its commercial offering. In August, the bank announced it had acquired DTS Connex, a cash management software provider, with the aim to expand the bank’s ability to automate cash operations for its business clients.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
