Wikipedia

Nubank

Nubank is a Brazilian neobank headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the largest fintech bank in Latin America, with around 93 million customers in Brazil and 8 million between Mexico and Colombia and a revenue of $1.69B.[citation needed] At its IPO in December 2021, Nubank was valued at $45 billion.[2][3]

Nu Pagamentos S.A.
Company typePublic
IndustryFinancial services
Founded6 May 2013; 11 years ago (6 May 2013)
Founders
Headquarters
São Paulo
,
Brazil
Area served
World
Key people
David Vélez (CEO)
Products
RevenueIncrease US$1.69 billion (2021)[1]: 179 
Increase US$−165 million (2021)[1]: 179 
Total assetsIncrease US$19.8 billion (2021)[1]: 180 
Total equityIncrease US$4.4 billion (2021)[1]: 180 
Number of employees
6,068 (December 2021)[1]: 249 
Websitenubank.com.br
Footnotes / references
[1]

History

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Nubank was founded in 2013 by Colombian David Vélez, Brazilian Cristina Junqueira and American Edward Wible. The first transaction with a Nubank card was made on April 1, 2014. Four years later, Nubank became a unicorn startup with its valuation of US$1 billion.[4]

In the company's first two years of existence, it raised 600 million Brazilian reais.[5] In September 2014, Nubank raised $14.3 million from Sequoia Capital, along with Kaszek Ventures and Nicolas Berggruen.[6] Nubank launched its first financial product, an international Mastercard credit card that has no annuity fees and can be completely managed through a mobile app, and then in June 2015, Nubank led a series B round of investment with Tiger Global Management, along with existing backers Sequoia Capital, Kaszek Ventures and QED Investors.[7]

In 2017, Nubank launched its loyalty program,[8] Nubank Rewards. The program's points (which never expire) can be redeemed for a product catalogue or discounts on services, travel and entertainment. Customers can try the program for free for 30 days, after which they will be charged a fee in order to further use it. In the same year, it also launched its digital account, NuConta.

In October 2018, Tencent bought a minority stake of Nubank worth $180 million ($90 million in capital increase, $90 million in shares).[9] In late 2018, it began offering payments through debit.[10] In 2018, after launching its new credit card design, Nubank was featured in the Guinness Book of Records for making the world's largest unboxing.[11] In early 2019, the fintech started testing personal loans[12] with a few of its digital account users. In May 2019, the company announced it would begin operations in Mexico through a subsidiary called Nu.[13] This was the first time Nubank offered its services and products outside of Brazil.[14]

 
The CEO of Nubank, David Vélez, representing the company in 2023

In January 2020, Nubank made its first acquisition with the purchase of Plataformatec, a company that specialized in software engineering and agile methodologies.[15] In July of the same year, the company also acquired Cognitect, responsible for Datomic and the Clojure programming language.[16] In September 2020, Nubank acquired Easynvest, an investment broker also from Brazil, for an undisclosed amount.[17]

In November 2020, Nubank announced that the company would begin operations in Colombia.[18] In April 2021, Edward Wible, who was CTO of the company for 8 years, left his position "to contribute more directly to the construction of the systems and infrastructure of the company" as the Director of Technological Platforms.[19]

The bank completed an IPO in December 2021.[2][20] After the IPO, Nubank's cofounder Cristina Junqueira became the second woman in Brazil to reach the self-made billionaire status, since she held 2.9% stake of company stock ($1.3 billion).[21] Before and after the IPO, Berkshire Hathaway invested a total of $1 billion in Nubank stock.[22][23]

In 2022, Forbes ranked Nubank #1 out of the fifteen best Brazilian banks.[24]

In October 2023, it was announced that the bank would use generative artificial intelligence to offer credit to customers.[25] It was announced that the AI would function as a virtual assistant that would also give tips on how to use a credit card.[26] It was developed using OpenAI's GPT-4 and other bank intelligence systems.[27]

Also in October 2023, the bank announced that it had requested, through its subsidiary Nu México, a license to operate as a bank in Mexico, with the aim of increasing its portfolio in the country.[28][29][30] It also began the gradual offer of payroll loans for INSS retirees and pensioners.[31]

In May 2024, Nubank announced their own travel eSIM in partnership with Gigs[32].

Description

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Among the company's products are NuConta (a digital account), an international credit card, both without fees,[33][34] personal loans, life insurance and investments. The company's differentiating factor is to offer a credit card which is controlled completely through the means of a mobile app. The app allows its users to track transactions in real time, block their respective credit card, apply for a limit raise and contact customer support.

Some of Nubank's investors are Sequoia Capital, Founders Fund,[35] Kaszek Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway, QED Investors and DST Global.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Nu Holdings Ltd. 2021 Annual Report (Form 20-F)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2022-04-21.
  2. ^ a b Kauflin, Jeff. "Shares Of Digital Bank Nubank Rise 15% In IPO, Valuing The Company At $45 Billion And Minting A New Female Billionaire Cofounder". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2021-12-09. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  3. ^ Caparroso, José (9 December 2021). "Nubank sale a bolsa como el banco más valioso de América Latina" [Nubank goes public as the most valuable bank in Latin America]. Forbes (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  4. ^ "Nubank é o terceiro unicórnio brasileiro - Link". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  5. ^ Zogbi, Paula. "Nubank levanta R$ 271 milhões em nova rodada de investimentos". www.infomoney.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  6. ^ Ingrid Lunden, Finance Startup Nubank Nabs $14.3M In Sequoia’s First Brazil Investment, Techcrunch.com, 25 September 2014
  7. ^ Ingrid Lunden, Brazil’s Nubank Raises $30M Led By Tiger To Build Out Its Mobile-Based Credit Card Business, Techcrunch.com, 2 June 2015
  8. ^ "Nubank prepara programa de milhagem - Economia". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  9. ^ Carolina Mandl, China's Tencent invests $180 million in Brazil fintech Nubank, Reuuters.com, 8 October 2018
  10. ^ "Nubank lança funções débito e saque para clientes da NuConta". Valor Econômico (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2018-12-11. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  11. ^ "Nubank quebra recorde mundial e entra para o Guinness World Records". EXAME (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  12. ^ "Nubank começa a oferecer empréstimo pessoal – Negócios". Tecnoblog (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  13. ^ "Digital bank Nubank arrived in Mexico". Developerz.software. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2022-02-18.
  14. ^ "Com escritório no México, Nubank inicia ofensiva internacional". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  15. ^ "En busca de ingenieros, Nubank realiza su primera adquisición". Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  16. ^ "Nubank adquire empresa norte-americana de tecnologia Cognitect". Valor Investe (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  17. ^ Carolina Mandl, Brazil’s Nubank buys Advent-backed broker Easynvest, Reuters.com, 11 September 2020
  18. ^ Tim Wilson, Nubank Plants a Flag in Colombia, Nearshoreamericas.com, 2 November 2020
  19. ^ "Nubank Hires Former Amazon Executive as New Chief Technology Officer". Olhar digital.
  20. ^ Pooler, Michael; Megaw, Nicholas (2021-12-09). "Nubank hits $41.5bn valuation as it plans growth in Mexico and Colombia". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  21. ^ Eliza Haverstock, Brazil’s Nubank Cofounder Cristina Junqueira No Longer A Billionaire As Nu Holdings Stock Cools, Forbes.com, 27 January 2022
  22. ^ Warren Buffett’s Berkshire invests $1 billion in crypto-friendly Nubank, Cnbctv18.com, 17 February 2022
  23. ^ Reshab Agarwal, Warren Buffet invests $1B in bitcoin-friendly Nubank, Techstory.in, 16 February 2022
  24. ^ "Brazil's 15 best banks in 2022 - Nubank leads for the fourth time - Forbes Ranking". The Rio Times. 2022-04-14. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
  25. ^ "Nubank lança ferramenta que usa inteligência artificial para personalizar vida financeira dos clientes". Blog (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  26. ^ Rubinstein, Leonardo (2023-10-18). "Nubank usará Inteligência Artificial do ChatGPT em seus serviços". BlockTrends - Blockchain Notícias | Investimentos | Economia (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  27. ^ "Nubank e ChatGPT? Banco lança ferramenta de IA para uso de crédito no app". TechTudo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-10-18. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  28. ^ "Nubank solicita licença para atuar como banco no México". Valor Investe (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  29. ^ "Nubank (ROXO34) pede licença bancária no México para expandir oferta de produtos no país". Estadão E-Investidor - As principais notícias do mercado financeiro (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  30. ^ "México: Nubank solicita licença bancária para expandir quantidade de produtos". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  31. ^ "Nubank libera consignado para aposentados e pensionistas do INSS. Veja". Estadão E-Investidor - As principais notícias do mercado financeiro (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  32. ^ Sawers, Paul (2024-05-28). "More neobanks are becoming mobile networks — and Nubank wants a piece of the action". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  33. ^ "Nubank finalmente vira um bank - Tecnoblog". 24 October 2017.
  34. ^ "Nubank aprimora plataforma digital e cria a NuConta - EXAME". exame.abril.com.br.
  35. ^ "Nubank passa a valer US$ 500 milhões com nova rodada de investimentos". gizmodo.uol.com.br. 7 January 2016.
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  • Official website
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