Nubank commences pilot for pre-paid phone recharges

Contxto – Just yesterday, Nubank released a pilot for customers who prefer pre-paid phone plans. What this means is that certain account holders can look forward to recharging their cellphones over the NuConta digital account. 

NuConta phone recharges

From the sounds of reports, the new cellphone recharge function will begin as a trial, at least for the time being. Along those lines, users will only be able to use the available balance deposited into their digital NuConta accounts.

That’s to say, you won’t have to add a debit or credit card since purchases will be made via funds that Brazilian clients have in NuConta. No extra steps or additional apps will be necessary. 

At the moment, only a select group of clients in Brazil will have access to this feature. While Nubank hasn’t specified its selection methodology for this pilot group, it did specify that those who previously requested a cellphone recharges through the call center are going to have priority.

Despite some question marks, Nubank also shared that some of the most activist banking members within its “NuCommunity” can expect invitations to participate in the trial.  

Pre-paid phones in Brazil

While pre-paid phones have become obsolete in many parts of the world, they are still common in Brazil.

“More than half of all active mobile phones in Brazil are prepaid and about 60% of recharges are done digitally,” said Vitor Oliver, Nubank’s Vice President of Consumer Affairs. 

So far, Nubank still hasn’t announced a date for this feature to go public. Considering that it just announced this pilot yesterday, the Brazilian neobank intends to gather feedback before pursuing anything further.

Here are the steps to use recharge cellphones over the NuConta digital account:

1. Open the Nubank app;
2. Press “Recharge” on the function bar;
3. Input the mobile number you want to recharge;
4. Choose the phone carrier;
5. Specify the recharge value;
6. Confirm NuConta password to finalize the transaction.

Today, Nubank has 13 million customers in Latin America, 10 million of whom are in Brazil. Not only are customers pleased with the startup but also employees. Recently, LinkedIn also named it as the most desirable startup to work in Brazil. 

-JA