Brazil may not be an obvious place to look for the future of retail banking. Yet in just over a decade Nubank, based in São Paulo, has transformed its home market by offering cheap, branchless banking to millions of customers ignored by the big players. Its market value of $56bn leaves it vying with Itaú Unibanco for the title of Latin America’s biggest bank. In 2024 Nubank made $2bn in profit, double the previous year’s figure. Having conquered Brazil, and with the country’s economy now struggling, it has set its eyes on new markets.
