Fifth Third Bank  announced that its Newline platform has been named an Innovation of the Year 2026 honoree by American Banker, recognizing its role in powering large-scale payments and embedded finance capabilities for fintechs and enterprise clients.

As part of its Innovation of the Year program, American Banker recognizes teams and individuals whose groundbreaking, innovative projects, initiatives and developments solve key challenges, capitalize on new opportunities and drive measurable results while redefining the future of digital finance.

Newline reflects a growing shift in the payments landscape, where fintechs and platforms require bank partners that can operate as scalable, technology-driven infrastructure providers. By combining the reach and regulatory strength of a top U.S. bank with modern, API-driven architecture, Fifth Third is enabling clients to embed payments, cards and financial services directly into their own ecosystems. American Banker noted “Newline's key product launch in 2025 was agentic commerce infrastructure – the plumbing for a future in which AI agents, not humans, initiate and approve payments.”

“Newline represents a different model for how banks support innovation in payments,” said Bridgit Chayt, head of Commercial Payments at Fifth Third. “By pairing the creativity and agility of our people with the strength, scale and trust of a leading bank, we’re delivering solutions that help our clients move faster, serve their customers better and stay ahead.”

American Banker further commented “(Newline) is now the fastest growing segment in Fifth Third's commercial payments business, which generated more than $1 billion in fee revenue in 2025. The division expects to process more than $25 trillion in payment volume in 2026, compared with the $9 trillion it processed in 2016.”

All honorees will be recognized at American Banker's Digital Banking Conference and the Most Innovative People in Finance and Innovation of the Year awards dinner on June 16.