Nubank Profits Jump as Customer Base Grows 15%

Brazil’s Nubank saw profits jump 50% as it expanded its Latin American customer base.

The digital bank, which operates in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia and plans to enter the U.S., reported quarterly earnings Wednesday (Feb. 25) showing its customer base had grown 15% to 131 million people.

“This expansion strengthens Nu’s position as one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital financial services platforms,” Nubank said in its earnings report.

The company added that the bank is now the largest private financial institution by number of customers in Brazil, and serves roughly 15% of the adult population of Mexico, where it is also the leading issuer of new credit cards.

Nubank said total revenue climbed 45% in the quarter, to $4.86 billion, with a net profit of $894.8 million, compared to $552.6 million in the same three-month period in 2024.

In an interview with Reuters, Nubank Chief Financial officer Guilherme Lago said the profit increase was fueled by a larger number of customers and more revenue per active customer, while the cost of serving those customers had remained stable.

“This brings positive leverage to revenue,” Lago said.

Last month, Nubank parent company Nu received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to launch a new national bank in the U.S.

“This approval isn’t just an expansion of our operation; it’s an opportunity to prove our thesis that a digital-first, customer-centric model is the future of financial services globally,” Nubank founder and CEO David Vélez said at the time.

The company is also planning to expand into Asia. Vélez told Bloomberg News last month that Nu’s 2024 investment in digital banking group Tyme, which operates South Africa’s TymeBank and GoTyme in the Philippines, was in part an effort to learn more about Asian markets.

PYMNTS wrote last month about Latin America’s continued embrace of digital financial services.

Digital wallets, account-to-account transfers and real-time payment systems have begun supplanting cash, modernizing commerce and offering access to formal financial services, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Digital Developments: Charting Digital Payment Growth in Latin America.”

“The shift is structural rather than cyclical,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “The report found that experts predict that by 2030, digital payments will account for roughly two-thirds of eCommerce transaction value and nearly half of point-of-sale value across the region, reflecting sustained changes in consumer behavior rather than short-term substitution.”