Fifth Third signs deal making fintech firm Brex the provider of its commercial cards

Regional bank Fifth Third on Tuesday announced a deal making fintech firm Brex the provider of its commercial cards and expense management tools for business clients.

The program will run on Brex’s embedded payments platform, which lets banks issue corporate cards and automate expense reporting using artificial intelligence tools, the companies said in a release.

The move shows how some banks are choosing to partner with fintech firms rather than building their own platforms to keep up with clients’ evolving technology expectations. Fifth Third is in the process of acquiring Comerica, a deal expected to make it the ninth-largest U.S. bank with about $288 billion in assets.

“Our partnership with Brex is a commitment to redefine how companies leverage financial technology,” Fifth Third CEO Tim Spence said in a statement. “By combining the strength of a leading bank with Brex’s AI-driven innovation, we’re creating intelligent solutions that simplify complexity, drive efficiency and enable businesses to scale globally with confidence.”

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.