Nubank, a digital lender based in Brazil, announced on Tuesday that it has applied for a national bank charter to operate in the United States. This is the company’s most significant move towards expanding outside of Latin America.
The application serves as a prelude to Nubank’s long-term goal of extending its tech-driven, customer-focused digital banking platform outside of Latin America.
In a statement, Nubank stated that the choice “is in line with the company’s intention to explore future international opportunities by evolving its regional platform into a global model.”
As one of the biggest digital and online financial service challenger banks in the world, Nubank has more than 120 million clients in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia since it began operations in Sao Paulo more than ten years ago, declared today that it has submitted an application to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national bank license.
By transforming its regional platform into a worldwide model, this endeavour is in line with the company’s plan to investigate potential international opportunities in the future. Nubank is in a position to seize new opportunities in the American financial system by pursuing a U.S. national bank charter.
Chief Executive and founder of Nu Holdings, David Velez stated in the statement that the lender’s primary goal is still to delivering and providing growth in its current markets where they still see significant growth potential, is still our primary emphasis today.
David Vélez also stated that “at the same time, applying for a U.S. national charter helps us better serve our existing customers based in the country and, in the future, connect with those who share similar financial needs and could benefit from our products and services.”
In addition, he stated that the application might assist Nubank in providing services to its current U.S.-based clientele and “in the future, connect with those who share similar financial needs and could benefit from our products and services.”
The charter would help Nubank, which is listed in the United States under the name Nu Holdings, create a new tab and effectively scale in the U.S. market by “eventually offering deposit accounts, credit card, lending and digital asset custody.”
Following the announcement, Nu Holdings’ stock increased by almost 1% before reversing its gains in late afternoon trade.
As the digital bank has been closely vying with the more established company Itau Unibanco in recent years, Nu’s shares hit all-time highs last week, once again making it the largest lender in Latin America by market capitalisation.
According to Nubank, former Brazilian central bank president Roberto Campos Neto will chair the board of directors, while co-founder Cristina Junqueira will lead the U.S. division.
“While there’s work ahead, we believe that by working closely with regulators, we will soon be in a position to expand our offering to the broader U.S. market,” Junqueira stated in the release.
In order to reflect the compliance-first mentality of its operations in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, Nubank will eventually offer deposit accounts, credit cards, lending, and digital asset custody in the U.S. market with the help of an OCC national bank charter. In April 2025, the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (CNBV) in Mexico authorised its subsidiary Nu Mexico to become a bank. It is still awaiting final operational approval.
“Nubank’s mission remains to improve people’s lives by providing top-notch digital financial services. Although there is still work to be done, we think that by collaborating closely with regulators, we will soon be able to extend our offering to the larger U.S. market,” Cristina Junqueira, co-founder, Nu Holdings’ chief growth officer, and CEO of the new U.S. business which will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Nu Holdings added. Cristina is dedicated to this endeavour and has moved to the United States full-time.
The following individuals will make up the Board of Directors of the United States business: Brian Brooks, former Acting Comptroller of the Currency and current Chairman and CEO of Meridian Capital Group; Cristina Junqueira; Youssef Lahrech, former Nu President and COO and current Nu Audit and Risk Committee observer; Kelley Morrell, former Blackstone Senior Managing Director, Chief Strategy Officer of CIT Group, and U.S. Treasury Department executive, and current Founder and Managing Partner of Highline Capital Management.
The Nubank’s journey with existence since its was founded in 2013, which has its headquarters in São Paulo, has expanded quickly to rank among the biggest providers of digital financial services globally, catering to around 123 million clients in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. An effective and scalable business model that combines low costs to serve with increasing returns is the foundation of Nubank’s impressive financial success. Maintaining an activity rate above 83%, the company is among the most rapidly expanding and lucrative financial services firms in the world. In Q2 of 2025, it reported record revenue of $3.7 billion, a 40% increase from the previous year, at the holding level.
With the goal of addressing the most difficult financial vertical, lending, first, the business introduced a no-fee credit card as part of its original purpose to empower individuals by combating complexity and innovating financial services. Powering industry-leading data processing for product design, credit and risk models, and consumer personalisation, this platform—which is entirely cloud-native—proved to be a crucial differentiator. Launched in 2017, the savings account enabled a range of goods, including investments, cryptocurrency, SME solutions, and personal loans, which further facilitated growth. Among other things, the portfolio now consists of insurance, mobile plans, and marketplaces. Today, Nubank is the primary banking connection for the majority of its active customers, setting it apart from most digital banks with its array of products and services and customer-focused approach.
With numerous honours, such as Forbes World’s Best Banks, Latin Finance’s Digital Bank of the Year, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, and Time 100 Most Influential Companies, have acknowledged Nubank’s influence. Since 2021, Nubank has been listed as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker NU.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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