Nubank secures 15 million customers in native Brazil

Contxto – Surfacing today within the startup ecosystem are the latest Nubank figures. According to founder and CEO David Vélez, the Brazilian scaleup has recently reached 15 million clients in its native market.

Nubank’s rapid growth

After Vélez made this announcement last Friday at the Brazil Investment Forum in São Paulo, the company valued at over $10 billion has certainly proven its propensity for success and rapid growth. 

Compared to numbers in August, this number marks a 25 percent increase in a rather short amount of time. As noted by Vélez, 10 million of Nubank’s current clientele are specifically credit cardholders. 

Outside of Brazil, Nubank has also grown to operate in Argentina and Mexico since its 2013 founding. This past summer, there were also speculations about an expansion to Colombia, but this has yet to be confirmed. 

Some of its current investors include Sequoia Capital and Tencent Holdings. In late July, the U.S. fund TCV also lead a financial round for Nubank worth US$400 million. Before then, there were even rumors that the Brazilian fintech was deliberating with SoftBank over a potential US$1 billion investment. 

Functioning as a challenger bank, the company intends to offer direct credit interest rates that are between 30 and 40 percent lower than standard rates on the Brazilian market. 

Nubank expansion plans in Mexico 

Following a product launch in August, Vélez has also emphasized that Nubank plans to soon expand its offerings in Mexico.

“We have opened many new business fronts in the last 12 months,” said Vélez. “We are growing quickly.”

Known as Nu, the Mexican subsidiary will offer credit to users seeking less stressful and more transparent banking services.

“We are working very hard to have our first clients in Mexico before 2019 ends,” said Josafat Vargas, PR Manager for Nu, in recent correspondence.

“Our waitlist is still open, however, we will be releasing the people who already signed up to receive an invitation to apply for our credit card. At this time, our focus is to develop the best product that we can deliver and delight our customers with an amazing experience when using our card.”

 Over the past few months, Nubank has started to expand some of its financial products. This includes digital bank account services, personal loans, small business assistance, as well as individual credit lines. 

-JA