Fifth Third Bank: Scaling Embedded Payments Nationwide

At Money20/20 USA 2025, Tom Bianco, General Manager of Newline by Fifth Third Bank, outlined how the bank is redefining embedded payments at scale. Newline is Fifth Third’s dedicated franchise for issuing sponsorship, acquiring sponsorship, and modern API-driven payment processing — spanning ACH, wires, real-time payments, and more.

Fifth Third, headquartered in Cincinnati, is rapidly becoming a payments powerhouse. Following its acquisition of Comerica, the bank is set to become the ninth largest in the U.S., with over $280 billion in assets. But Newline’s strategy isn’t about size — it’s about thinking like the future. “If you’re not interested in the future, the future is not interested in you,” Bianco said, signalling Fifth Third’s commitment to lead rather than follow.

Launched in 2021, Newline was built around a simple idea: clients should be able to embed Fifth Third’s payment capabilities directly into their digital experiences. Whether powering a checkout flow, automating payouts, or enabling real-time fund movement, the goal is to deliver banking functionality exactly where customers engage — not in a separate channel.

Bianco calls Newline the blend of “the best of Silicon Valley with the best of a large FI.” The model pairs Fifth Third’s industrial-strength processing engines with agile teams, modern technology, and deep collaboration with leading fintechs. Newline works with category leaders such as Stripe, Brex, Rippling, and Trustly, embedding capabilities natively into their software to support their customers at national scale.

He explained that banks today no longer compete with other banks on experience — they compete with Uber, Amazon, and every real-time, digital-first platform shaping consumer expectations. Newline’s role is to match that speed.

Looking ahead, Bianco expects continued acceleration in real-time payments, real-time deposits, and instant information exchange. He also sees massive potential in blockchain, though he believes financial services are still “in the first pitch of the first inning” when it comes to on-chain use cases.

The pressure on payment networks is growing, especially around transactions per second (TPS), and Bianco anticipates a convergence of legacy rails (ACH, wire, RTP, FedNow) with card networks as the ecosystem modernises. With a digital canvas, he said, the opportunities multiply — from rewards and refunds to embedded financial experiences that operate seamlessly in real time.

For Fifth Third, embedded payments isn’t an add-on. It’s a national growth strategy — one built on partnership, distribution, and meeting customers exactly where they are.