Nubank (NU) stock will seek to obtain banking license in Brazil next year

Nubank, one of the largest fintech banks in Latin America, announced its plans to obtain a banking license in Brazil in 2026.

The company, which is a subsidiary of Nu Holdings (NU), already offers numerous financial services in Brazil, including payments, credit, investments and brokerage. But it doesn't currently have a banking institution in the country.

Nubank said that the establishment of a banking institution within the "conglomerate" of its other services "does not materially alter additional capital and liquidity requirements" and that its "financial solidity and resilience remain unaltered."

The company notes that it currently has about 110 million customers in Brazil.

“Nubank was founded 12 years ago and has been responsible for the inclusion of 28 million individuals in the financial system,” Livia Chanes, CEO of Nubank in Brazil, said in a statement. “Our identity and mission to simplify our customers’ lives will remain the same.”

Nubank is focused on the underbanked in Latin America, with operations also in Mexico and Colombia. It was founded in 2013 and has approximately 127 million customers.

The company recently reported in its third-quarter earnings that its customer base in Brazil represents over 60% of the adult population in the country. It is the third-largest financial institution in the country by number of customers, according to the Brazilian Central Bank.

Nubank added 4.3 million new customers overall in Q3, a 16% year-over-year increase. The company has 13.1 million customers in Mexico and 3.8 million in Colombia.

The fintech firm confirmed in October that it had also applied for a national bank charter in the United States with the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), which would allow it to offer deposit accounts, credit cards, and lending and digital asset custody services in the US.

David Vélez, founder and CEO of Nu Holdings, told Reuters in January that the company was considering a possible expansion of its operations into the US, citing the Trump administration's friendlier regulatory approach around digital assets as creating a more favorable environment for Nubank to enter the market.

"With the U.S. getting on board, fintech and crypto are back," Velez said at the time. "When an administration suddenly sees fintech as being good for consumers and more competition, that makes it more attractive."

Meanwhile, the company noted in its third-quarter earnings report that it is looking to become an "AI-first" banking operation by "deeply integrating foundation models across our operations to drive an AI-native interface to banking, while creating value for both customers and the business."

It said that AI would improve "the understanding of individual customer needs, allowing Nu to deliver personalized recommendations, contextual offers and products, and proactive insights at the right moment."

Nubank announced last week that it had acquired dex Labs, which is a unified AI-powered data engineering and cloud infrastructure platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Jorge Kuri, recently reiterated its Overweight rating for NU shares, citing among other positives "further upside from AI credit models."

Nu Holdings' stock is up nearly 70.4% for the year.