FinTech profile: Nubank, the Latin-American unicorn

Nubank featured in our top 10 digital banks earlier this year. FinTech Magazine takes a closer look at the Latin-American digital bank.

Background 

Nubank was founded in 2013 by David Velez, Edward Wible and Cristina Junqueira, the bank first became active in 2014. Nubank is the third bank in Brazil to achieve unicorn status after achieving a valuation of US$1bn in 2018.

The bank is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, and serves Brazil, Mexico and Argentina with digital accounts, credit cards and personal loans. Vélez revealed at the start of October 2019 that the bank now has over 15mn users. 25% up from August 2019. “We have opened many new business fronts in the last 12 months. We are growing quickly,” he said.

[Image, from left to right: David Velez, Cristina Junqueira, Edward Wible]

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Five facts about Nubank

1. The bank of Latin-America Nubank has become iconic across Brazil, Argentina and Mexico for its digital accounts and ease of access. 

2. Fee-free Brazillians pay some of the highest fees and interest rates for what is often considered poor banking services. For this reason, Nubank offers its customers a free account, with no maintenance fees.

3. Centralised services via the app Much like its peers Monzo, Sterling and N26, Nubanks services are all located on the app, allowing users a greater autonomy over their money. Users can track their money or send prompts to friends who might owe money. 

4. Contact Integration The app can integrate with the users contact list, a feature that is now present in most digital banks.

5. FGC-protected RDB investment users can make deposits in RDB (Financial Deposit Receipts) securities. According to Nubank, these offer 100% yeild on CDI and daily liquidity. This can be redeemed at any time.

Did you know?

Last month, Nubank began the pilot for prepaid phone recharges. As users in the region prefer the prepaid phone plans, the bank will be trialling this service. Currently, users can only top-up by depositing money into their Nuconta digital accounts.

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