Brazil
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Nubank
Latin America’s default digital bank, listed in New York.
Legal entity: Nu Holdings Ltd group (NYSE: NU). Brazilian products sit in local Nu entities — read the live contract on nubank.com.br/contratos. Do not treat the NYSE name as the deposit holder.
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8.1Strong
AlternativesFive questions
At a glance
Is it a bank?
No. Nubank is not a bank. Your money sits with Nu Financeira / Nu Pagamentos (product-dependent).
If it fails?
FGC on qualifying Brazilian deposit products at the local Nu deposit-taking entity — product-dependent. The card is not the deposit.
Salary?
Brazilian Nu account products that are deposits can take salary on Brazilian rails. Mexico/Colombia are separate local files.
Open from abroad?
Local KYC in Brazil / Mexico / Colombia. Not a global e-money passport.
Monthly fee
No annual fee on core card
Account number
Brazil — Brazilian payment account / PIX, not a European IBAN
NeoBankDB Verdict
Licence first · score second
8.1
/10 · Strong
If you live in Brazil, Nu is the control account every comparison starts from. If you do not, skip it.
What it is
Nubank began as a no-annual-fee Mastercard in Brazil and became one of the largest digital banks on earth, listed on the NYSE as NU. Mexico and Colombia followed. FGC protection applies to qualifying deposit products at member entities — not to every Nu sleeve.
Best for: Residents of Brazil (and Nu’s other LATAM markets) who want the default digital bank.
Last checked 2026-08-01. Not advice.
What it does well
- +Scale that broke the ‘challenger’ frame
- +Credit card that actually got adopted
- +PIX-native account
- +Public reporting
What to watch
- −Not a product for non-residents
- −Foreign spend has Brazil tax reality (IOF)
- −Credit is still credit
- −Support at 100M customers is industrial
Legal entity, not the app icon
Who is behind it
- Legal name
- Nu Holdings Ltd group (NYSE: NU). Brazilian products sit in local Nu entities — read the live contract on nubank.com.br/contratos. Do not treat the NYSE name as the deposit holder.
- Parent
- Nu Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NU)
- Founders
- David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, Edward Wible
- Offices
- São Paulo, Mexico City, Bogotá
- If something goes wrong
- Banco Central do Brasil / Procon for Brazil products
Who holds the money
The account
- IBAN country
- Brazil — Brazilian payment account / PIX, not a European IBAN
- Support
- In-app — huge retail load
- Hours
- In-app
- Remote open
- Local KYC in Brazil / Mexico / Colombia. Not a global e-money passport.
- Onboarding
- Local KYC (CPF in Brazil).
- KYC documents
- Local national ID as the Brazilian (or MX/CO) entity requires.
- Minimum age
- Follow the local Nu contract — do not invent a single group-wide age.
- Languages
- PT, ES, EN
- Salary / payroll
- Brazilian Nu account products that are deposits can take salary on Brazilian rails. Mexico/Colombia are separate local files.
- Local rails
- Pix / Brazilian domestic on the Brazil file.
- ATM network
- Partner ATM / debit — Brazil-first
- Overdraft
- Nu credit products are separate from the payment account
How money actually moves
- Who holds the cash
- Issued / held via Nu Financeira / Nu Pagamentos (product-dependent)
- How money moves
- In-app ledger
- Built for
- Personal · Investing
- Settlement
- App-ledger instant; bank rails per corridor
- Freeze risk
- Fintech reviews can pause inbound while they check a transfer
- Card
- Nubank lists a physical card and a virtual card and a metal card on mastercard, plus Apple Pay and Google Pay. Confirm the live product in the app — a card is not a current account.
Licence first
Safety
FGC on qualifying Brazilian deposit products at the local Nu deposit-taking entity — product-dependent. The card is not the deposit.
Who holds the money: Nu Financeira / Nu Pagamentos (product-dependent)
- Banco Central do BrasilFinancial institution / credit card issuer · Brazil
Fees
- Monthly
- No annual fee on core card
- FX markup
- IOF + spread on foreign spend (Brazil rules)
- ATM
- Network-dependent
Features
- –IBAN
- –Fee-free core
- ✓Multi-currency
- ✓Apple Pay
- ✓Google Pay
- ✓Virtual card
- ✓Physical card
- ✓Metal card
- –Crypto
- –Stocks
- –Business
- –Kids
- –Halal
- Purple Mastercard, including Ultraviolet metal
- NuConta account
- PIX payments
- Lending and insurance
- Mexico and Colombia apps
Editorial, not a live demo
Screenshots and video
Official YouTube · NubankMedia is editorial context, not a live demo of the app. Screenshots go stale — read the licence first.
Before you tap Sign up
How to open
Step 1
Open the local entity
Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are different files. The NYSE parent is not the account.
Step 2
Local KYC
CPF path in Brazil. Read nubank.com.br/contratos for the product you actually tapped.
Step 3
FGC is on deposits
Qualifying deposits, not every Nu card balance. Confirm the SKU.
Official help: nubank.com.br/contratos
Operator documents
Their own papers
These are the operator’s documents. They outrank this review if they disagree.
Score
- Safety25%
- 8.4
- Fees20%
- 8.8
- Features15%
- 8.4
- App15%
- 9.0
- Global15%
- 6.2
- Support10%
- 7.2
Change log
Full logLicence
US launch sits at Lead Bank, Member FDIC
Nu Holdings opened US consumer products on 10 September 2026. Official newsroom: deposits are held at partner FDIC-insured Lead Bank. Nu is a financial technology company, not a US bank, until a charter is live. OCC conditional approval is not a national bank yet.
Available in
Straight answers
FAQ
01Is Nubank a bank?
Nubank is filed as Financial institution / credit card issuer. The named regulator is Banco Central do Brasil. Still read the entity on the statement before you send money.
02What happens to money in Nubank if it fails?
FGC on qualifying deposit products up to R$250,000
03What does Nubank charge each month?
The monthly fee on this file is No annual fee on core card. Fees change — open the operator's pricing page if it is linked.
Ratings and reviews
No published user reviews yet. The NeoBankDB score still comes from licence, fees, and the product — not from an empty star average.
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