RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Nubank tops the Forbes list of Brazil’s best banks for the 4th year in a row. The ranking, compiled by Forbes USA, evaluates issues such as customer satisfaction, reliability, digitalization, customer service, and financial advice.
Since the last edition of the list, published in April 2021, the country’s economic scenario has changed drastically. Inflation was 6.76%, while today it is over 11% cumulatively over 12 months. The Selic, the prime rate, which reached 2.75% this month, is 11.25% today.
The increase in interest rates is usually positive for banks, as it allows financial institutions to practice higher interest margins – the difference between the interest rate the bank pays to lend money and the interest rate it charges to lend that money.
In this scenario, the four largest Brazilian banks (Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú Unibanco and Santander) together recorded the highest annual profit since 2019: R$81.6 (US$18) billion.
However, none of them is in the top positions of the list. The best-placed is Itaú Unibanco in 7th place; Banco do Brasil did not qualify for the ranking.
The second place in the ranking also belongs to a digital bank: Inter. The financial institution has maintained its position from the last ranking, as well as C6, which is in third place.
Sicredi, in 4th place, was the financial institution that moved up the most this year; in 2021, the bank had ranked 7th on last year’s list.
Digio is the only new entrant on the list. It displaced Banrisul to capture the 15th spot.
View the full ranking:
1st Nubank
2. Banco Inter
3. C6 Bank
4. sicredi
5. PagBank
6. neon
7. next
8. itaú
9. BMG Bank
10. Santander